


Something Different but Something New

by Here_for_tomorrow



Series: Baby Things [1]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Drama, Humor, Jim being manipulative, Kidnapping, M/M, Mpreg, Non-Graphic Violence, Romance, Some Fluff, Threats of Violence, baby stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-03
Updated: 2013-10-08
Packaged: 2017-12-13 19:55:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 40,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/828224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Here_for_tomorrow/pseuds/Here_for_tomorrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>thought i might as well post this one while since i finished posting my other story up until the current chapter. Plus, there isn't enough Jim/Sebastian mpreg. What's up with that?</p>
<h6></h6>
<p>He was a hardcore sniper known not only for his talents, but for the damage he caused to other's life. He was a soldier, a fighter who mercilessly killed others when asked. He was NOT father material and there was NO way he carrying his psychopathtic lover's child! Mpreg</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Stupid Mistake

**Author's Note:**

> this is slight A/B/O, but that's only because i didn't want to think up an overly complicated explanation on why men could suddenly have children. it would just confuse everyone.

###### 

He was in the middle of a heat that just suddenly sprang on him without any of his usual symptoms. This didn't really allow him time to prepare for his heat, but with his boss slash lover with him, everything didn't really seem too bad, until it was too late to do anything about it by that time.

Lying in bed together, trying to catch their breath, Sebastian half way asleep, didn't really notice anything amiss until he realized that he didn't feel the itching and boiling of his blood like it usually is throughout his heat. He vaguely thinks of it as a sign that it was merrily a false heat and shuffles closer to his alpha. He doesn't bother to ask Jim if he used a condom or not; knowing that that's not Jim's problem to worry about. Jim made it his job to worry about protection and contraception pills. He tries to think through the fog of sleep to remember if he took any form of birth control. The hand he feels rub soothing streaks over his scalp slowly takes him under the soft blanket of sleep.

###### 

2 1/2 months into the future.

Moran is sitting next to the toilet again, throwing up before he's has a proper meal. He's been contributing this and a few other symptoms as a stomach flu, causing Jim to stay as far away from him as possible. It wouldn't do well for the criminal mastermind to get sick during their busy season.

As he sits by the toilet waiting for the nausea to pass, he can't help but to wonder if his initial assessment of his symptoms might have been wrong. It has been a good month or so since early symptoms of something amiss has been going on in his body started to show. He became more tired. Much more tired. A deep bone ache tiredness that just would not go away. If it weren't for Jim, he's pretty sure that he would have missed a few jobs. He starts to think back farther, adding up other symptoms over a mental timeline and tried to find a more plausible diagnosis for his symptoms when a startling realization hits him.

He counts the numbers again, just in case. Even a third time. By the fourth time, he starts panicking a little. It can't, no, it's not true. Maybe that false heat threw off his normal heats. There's nothing to worry about. So what if he missed his heat? It's not like he has any symp... Crap!

He stand up quickly and starts pacing the bathroom. This cannot be right. It has to be a mistake. Sebastian Moran is not pr- carrying a child by his psychopathic lover! It just doesn't...

He puts his face into his hands. The heat came too fast and he forgot about his contraception's; and it's not like 'big alpha' Jim is going to wear a condom, even once. He slid down the wall still with his face in his hands. He was so totally screwed.  
He started freaking out, thinking of what it would mean for his job, his life, even his lover. Oh, god! How would he tell Jim? He felt like he couldn't breathe. He needed to get a grip on himself. Freaking before even officially knowing wasn't good. He may not even be pregnant. It could actually be some disease or foreign sickness ravaging his body; not a human being growing inside him.

He hovered his hand over his clothed abdomen. 'No,' he thought to himself. 'It's not possible.' he would double check, but he was pretty sure. A baby did not fit onto his sort of lifestyle.

He started to plan how he was going to go about finding if he was really pregnant. First, he would need to get his hands on some test discreetly. Knowing Jim, he probably had his every move being watched. It would be impossible to go to the chemist and pick up a test without someone notifying his boss.

He took a deep breath. He'd have at least try.

###### 

He dawned his sunglasses and a red baseball cap for his trip to the store, knowing that Jim would still know it was him, but that didn't matter at the moment. He walked at his normal pace, though every step he took, he dreaded. He knew the only thing telling him of his fate as father or sniper stood at the end of the street; waiting for him. He forced himself not to stop, knowing someone would find his behavior strange if he continually stopped and started randomly and try to notify Jim.

He walked in the store and spotted his accomplice standing by some produce, aimlessly wondering the store. Once he knew that his associate spotted him, he made his way to the store customer's restroom.

He waited five minutes before he texted Brian to bring in the 'stuff' and waited another three minutes until he heard a knock, causing his heart to pound out of his chest. He took a deep breath to calm himself and opened the door.

His accomplice stood there, holding a white pharmacy bag in his hand. He stood out of the way to allow him to enter the bathroom and locked the door behind him. He stretched to take the bag and snatched it away from him; He didn't mean to snatch the bag from him; his nervousness was making his every judgment not very rational. He just wanted to get this test over and done with, never to be thought about again accept for the sole purpose of a reason to make sure Jim wears a condom before he even thinks about touching him again. If everything went the way he hoped, he may decide to get a few shots in at a few targets if he was in a good enough mood after this ordeal.

He dug inside of the white bag and pulled out a blue plastic box. He held the plastic box in his hand and tried to force himself to open it instead of staring at it. The noise of someone else clearing his throat brought Sebastian out of his thought process as his head quickly snapped up to stare at the person who made the noise. He was an old army buddy of his who also did some work for Jim now and again. He kept in touch with him over the years and occasionally he asked him for help. Brian was mostly 'do and never ask questions,' which made him perfect for this. He understood the seriousness of this situation but he didn't know that his boss was the one who put him in the situation he was in now.

"You alright?" he asked Moran. Moran gave a stiff nod in response. "I don't want to add pressure on you or anything, but I don't think your boss will be too happy about this if it comes back positive. You're his best sniper. I don't think he'll like the guy who decided to knock his greatest sniper up the duff."

"You don't even know half of it." He and James decided to keep their relationship strictly private news. If word got out that he might be pregnant, there would be no good coming out of something like this. That's not to say people didn't expect them to already be a couple, but confirming it was something Jim frowned on. He liked to keep his personal life separate from his work life.

He sighed. He knew he was stalling and finally took the box with him inside one of the stalls. He opened the box and took one of the test out, staring at it before using it. He took the other two out and repeated the process, setting them aside after to wait out his fate.

He waited a few minutes, agitated and on the edge of the seat waiting, but he refused to look at the test. He heard a knock on the stall's door and silently cursed his friend for knowing he was avoiding looking at the test. He quickly scooped them up and made his way out of the stall and placed them upside down on the counter by the sink as he washed his hands. When he was finished, be slowly dried his hands, staring at the test as he did so.

"You need to just go for it. You can't just stare at their backs forever." his friend gently placed his hand on his shoulder. "Bet this is how the chicks feel going through the same thing, eh," he said, trying for some light humor. The corner of Moran's lips quirked up at the statement. He let out a heavy sigh and summoned up all the courage he had and turned the tests over...

.  
.  
.

There must...it can't...there had be some mistake. Moran's head is spinning trying to process the information he's been shown. A set of three positive signs smile up at him, making his insides clench. He can feel the nausea rise inside his stomach and quickly turns back to the stall as the vomit burns it way out of his throat. Once his wrenching stops, he weakly makes his way out of the stall and rinses his mouth in the sink.

"Sebastian. Y-you need to sit down before you f-faint. You're as white as a ghost." There's an edge in his voice, giving away a few of his feelings as it wavers. Two men harden by war and blood each seem on the edge of panic from three tiny plastic test.

When rationality slowly re-introduced itself back into Sebastian's mind, he remembers that his friend should have left three minutes ago. Damn, someone other than who was in the bathroom would start to panic. He could basically hear someone laying a file in Jim's office right at this second.

"You need to go. Someone's probably making their way down here to find see if I'm alright as we speak." He looked in his friend's eyes, seeing an internal conflict take place within his head. In the end, he decided it was best to go. As he started walking towards the door, Sebastian called out to him.

"Please. Just, don't tell anyone." he asked in a tired voice.

With his back still facing the Sebastian, Brian stopped and asked, "Will you tell just one thing?" Even though Sebastian knew that be couldn't see him, he nodded.

"He continually watches your every move, practically lives with you, and you're the only one he lets see the true him." He finally turns around to look Moran in the eyes. "Is the father of that child Jim Moriarty?"

Sebastian pressed the tips of his fingers to his mouth. He broke eye contact by shutting his eyes, but nodded.


	2. Please?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian made up his mind. now, will Jim have the same decision?

###### 

Sebastian tried his hardest to keep his distance from Jim like he wouldn't notice. He felt more comforted when they didn't have to meet face to face. To him, that meant that he had less of a chance of getting found out by those penetrating eyes. He felt extremely anxious around Jim, thinking that at any moment, he would just know by a look in his eyes.

Sebastian had to become very creative for Jim to not to have been tipped off this long. He continued on being Jim's best sniper, when he didn't almost miss a shot due to a random obnoxious smell causing him to vomit or morning sickness randomly struck. He started buying larger t-shirts to accommodate his now and [very] soon-to-be growing abdomen.  
It was a hard decision on what to do that night when he finally confirmed his fears. He seriously doubted he could be father material. A child would complicate his life. How could he possibly keep a job that required many qualities pregnant people didn't have (for example, staying in the same place for a long period of time. He'd have to constantly go to the restroom.)

In the end, he decided that, it seemed a horrible idea to murder this one being who wasn't actually a human being. Not that he was getting soft or anything; and if anyone asked, he would say that it was his hormones that caused him to make his decision. It still seemed weird to him how a sniper, whose job it was to kill people, couldn't even kill this...thing that wasn't even a person (yet).

Sebastian sighed and absentmindedly caressed his stomach as he walked around his flat, turning on the lights as he went. When he reached his bedroom, he was hit with a strong smell. A smell sweet at first, but just underneath, there was a faint smell of masculinity and...copper? He can feel his stomach churning and growling in a not-so-good type of way. He can feel a faint sense of nausea, whether from the pregnancy or from knowing who it was standing who it was standing in his bedroom, he couldn't tell.

As he's just about to turn on the light switch, he feels cool metal wrap around his wrist and hears a series of clicking sounds as the handcuffs lock. As he started to protest this, his other wrist was is also forced behind his back.  
He feels a wave of pheromones wash over him as Jim leans into his ear and whispers,"Did you miss me?" seductively, nibbling his ear. Sebastian feels a shiver run down his spine at the words. "I know you've been avoiding me, darling. Is it because your angry I work to much? That's all been taken care of now." He gropes his ass for a few seconds before ascending again.

"I missed you Sebby. All alone in my big empty bed..." he says, kissing his jaw from behind. "In my large flat..." he says, kissing his neck, "where you should have been," he says before darkness clouds his face and he viciously bit down on his shoulder.

Moran gave out a half pain-half pleasure groin. Jim's hip subconsciously gives forward, mashing Jim's aroused straight into Moran's backside and he ends up on the bed.

Now that Jim's not touching him anymore, Moran can think a little more clearly. He tries turning around, the handcuffs making it difficult. Jim turns on the lights and the sight before him makes him feel the vomit in the back of his throat.  
Usually, Jim covered in some kind of bodily fluid, even specks of blood that now painted his blue suit, would only make Sebastian grow hard. Now, he just wanted to run onto the nearest bathroom before he messed up his sheets in stomach acid.

He stood next to the edge of the bed Sebastian was laid out on and ran a had down his chest, making Sebastian feel good and frightened at the same time. Jim slid his hand down over his stomach. His palms felt warm over his stomach. Jim stopped his palm over the now flabby torso.

Jim started peering at Jim's stomach and pressed lightly on it. "Sebby, darling. You're starting to get chubby."  
Sebastian turned his head to hide the pain that flashes across his face. Stupid hormones making something big out of a little comment."Jim!" he yelled, as Jim cupped him through his pants, feeling him grow hard.

He started breathing deeply, aroused by his alpha standing so close after so long. He felt the bed dip and saw Jim sit on his hips and placed a leg on either side of him.

"Were you mad that I wasn't here for your heat. Did you miss me for it? I'm sorry for that..." he smirked and meant down to Sebastian's neck. He was about to give it a kiss when his scent invaded is nose. "You smell different, Seb. There's a faint..."

He takes a deep breath through his nose, trying to distinguish the smell. Moran accepts his fate, knowing that he wouldn't be able to hide something like this for very long.

Jim leans away from his neck, a face of utter concentration showing. Sebastian can see the clogs working in his head as all the pieces come together.

It's so quick, he didn't see it coming. Jim's hand raises and quickly comes down on his face. Sebastian is stunned, thinking Jim is lucky that his hands are handcuffed behind his back. Jim's face would have been a bleeding mess if his hands were free.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" he yelled, getting off from Sebastian's lap. He quickly unbuckled his lover's jeans and lifted up his shirt. A tanned, flabby belly now sat where his nice, ripped, muscled abdomen once was.

"Jim. Just calm down. Just...uncuff me and wipe your face. We can talk this over calmly," he said, trying for a soothing tone though he was worried inside.

"Why didn't you tell me?! How in the hell did you figure could possibly think you could hide this from me?" Though Jim was freaking out, he uncuffed Sebastian and started to pace the room.

Sebastian rubbed his chaffing wrist and watched Jim pace. He knew better than to disturb Jim when he was this deep in thought.

When it didn't look like his pacing would stop anytime soon, he moved back to the middle if the bed and propped himself up until he was leaning against the headboard. He wrestled with himself to try to stay awake as his body seemed to tell him he wasn't getting enough sleep; which was untrue, of course.

He didn't notice be had dosed off until be felt a substantial amount of weight settle onto his lap. He cracked open one of his eyes to find his lover staring at him, trying to will him awake with the sheer powers of his eyes. Sebastian sighed as he stretched a little.

"Jim, if you're going to wake me up, at least clear off all that blood off your face. The smell is starting to really make me nauseous," he said, sleep deepening his voice.

"Sebastian, darling. What did you decide to do with this child?" he asked, his voice sweet, soft, and filled with curiosity.  
Sebastian felt a spike of panic kick its way through his sleepiness. "I, I...decided to keep it." he said, his voice unwavering trying to bravery.

" Sebby, we can't keep it," he said, making an over-exaggerated pout. "We'll have to get rid of it." He said it in such a nonchalant manner that Sebastian didn't even know if they were on the same subject.

Sebastian felt panic give way to extreme anger as he shove Jim off of him roughly. "Damn it, Jim! This isn't a dog! It's not something you can just 'get rid of'! We're talking about our child. Can you at least show some kind of emotion for it?"he started to pace the room this time.

"What do you expect from me? I am your boss; a cold-hearted criminal mastermind; and your are my sniper slash lover, I don't do emotions like everyone else does. This baby is going to be a nuisance to our work and your job; not that it hasn't already! Now it makes more sense why you've...blotched a few...missions."

He strikes a thinking pose, but before he can get lost inside his subconscious, Sebastian's voice brought him back from wondering.

"Is the work the only thing you think about?" It's asked so softly that Jim almost missed it. Jim feels something heavy drop in his stomach[?] but doesn't acknowledge it; instead, he let his anger seethe through him.

He squints his eyes at Moran. "And why would that surprise you? You knew this when we started getting closer and finally changing your job title to sniper and se- lover." He refrains from saying sex-toy. He takes a deep breath and continues with a straight and serious face on. "Seb." he claps his hands together. "I need a capable and free sniper and lover at my every whim. A baby will complicate everything we've worked hard for. Why can't you see that?"

"I see a child who would learn things from two smart men (one if them being a genius) that would make him the brightest and most talented kid anywhere." he said calmly and walked over to where Jim was sitting at on the bed. He lets a small smirk grace one corner of his lips. "And, don't you want someone to be able to run your business when you want to retire or something?"

He knew he was pulling at straws now, but he'd have to show Jim reason. Please let Jim see reason.


	3. This Will Come Back to Bite me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian was so paranoid of going to the doctor, but now he sees a perk.

###### 

"Seb, darling, were not fit for this kind of life..." He sighs, and thinks for a minute. Sebastian doesn't want to get his hopes up, but he can't help it. He really hopes Jim will say yes. He prays Jim will say yes.

Jim looks at Sebastian's pleading face and knows what he wants him to say. Even though one part wants him to definitely say now, he knows Sebastian will most likely have the child against his wishes anyway. he frowns and sighs, knowing this will come back to bite him in the ass.

"I guess, if you are willing to take on all the responsibility, then I guess we can..." he starts rotating his wrist, looking for an adequate word, "that" he finishes off poorly, and sounds defeated.

Sebastian doesn't pick up on it, though. He wraps his arms around Jim's torso and hugs him. "Thank you Jim. You'll love our child. I promise."

"Yeah, yeah. But that means that you'll have to change him and feed him and clothe him, take him to the doctors," he stops, a though making its way to the front of his mental processing list. "- have you even been to see the doctor yet?"

The 'doctor' Jim refers him to is a private clinic he sends his workers to. The owner and doctor of the clinic is basically one of Jim's 'staff' who is was paying his debt to him off by working for him. He was always on a tight leash due and the 'doctor-patient confidentiality' is basically a load of bull since he reports every little medical injury or advice to Jim's records.

"No, I knew that it would be one of the things that would make it to the top of your pile if I went to get checked." Sebastian sighed, partially content and partially tired from all the rush from the emotional turmoil he just faced.

"Well, tiger, how can you even know if the child's healthy if you didn't get checked out?" Jim frowned at him.

Sebastian frowned back. He hadn't thought of that. What about all of the things that happened before he had found out. All of the things that could have potential hurt the child. He looked down at his shy, barely prodding stomach and rubbed his hand over it? Jim's right. He needed to get checked as soon as possible to see if the baby's healthy. He would never forgive himself if he did something that harmed his child.  
He felt Jim's hand hesitantly cover his on his stomach. "Stop worrying. Well just bump you up to the next available spot the clinic has." He pulled out his phone and started typing a message, no doubt telling the 'doctor' to move everyone back or just tell someone not to come at all. Since it's Jim, he'll make it happen.

Sebastian sighed again and laid back down on the bed. He felt Jim move along with him until they were lying side by side. He started to lean over to place a kiss on his sniper's cheek when the potent smell of dried blood hit the sniper's nose, causing him to hurry out of the room; the sound of retching sounding not too long after.

"Jim! Please...burn that suit and...get in the shower! The smell is making me...sick!"

Jim sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "This kid's not even born yet and he's already taking all our fun things away!" He gets up and followed Sebastian into the bathroom. "I guess blood-play is out of the question till this burden is out of your stomach. He stares at Moran, clutching onto the bowl of the toilet with his head partially inside of it, the sound and stench of vomit filling the room. Moran gave a tiny nod and pointed to the window.

"Don't call it a burden, Jim, it's your child," he heard him say, though it sounded echo-y due to the bowl. He stepped around him and opened the window, turning on the shower after he opened it.

"I could call it whatever I want, Seb, and right now, it's being a burden. Not a good first meeting, I'd say." He made a pout face before stripping off his clothes and stepping into the running stream of the shower.

###### 

Sebastian sat waiting within the confounds of the waiting room; he was the first and only one there. He was anxious and a small part of him wished that Jim was there beside him. He ended scoffing at himself, thinking that that was pretty ridiculous. He never needed to hold someone's hand in the army, why should he let this hormones decide that he suddenly needed to be weak?

A nurse came out from behind one of the closed doors and looked at Moran. He swallowed thickly and stood up to follow her. She lead him down a long hallway into a room marked with a three, which Sebastian thought was weird. Why would a single doctor need at least three different rooms. He shook his head, clearing his head of useless curiosity and tried to focus on priorities.

He was told to sit a red examination table and that the doctor would be with Jim soon. Left alone to his own devices, he felt a heavy weight of worry he hadn't felt before. All the usual what ifs started to play in his mind. The baby's health, what he should or could have done...all making horrible pictures within his mind.

A knock on the door startled him out of his thoughts and a small, portly man walked in. He had heard he used to be a good doctor once, until an undercover narcotics officer caught him for selling prescription drugs from his office. He had his license taken away and narrowly avoided jail time thanks to Jim.

"Mr. Moran. Good to see you after so long. So, Mr. Moriarty just told me to make an early appointment and sent me a new sonogram, but didn't give me much details."

He waited for Sebastian to speak, but he couldn't get the word 'pregnant' out. He absently rubbed his stomach. He really needed to stop doing that. He summoned up all his courage and took a deep breath.  
"I'm...I am expecting...I'm having a...child."

He looked back at the doctor, whose profession taught him how to never show his true feelings on his face. He stared at Moran for a moment before regaining his composure.

"And I'm guessing that it's the boss's kid, then."

Moran put on a stare that could peel paint. "None of the information discussed in this room leaves this room." He didn't need to threaten the doctor. He would know that it would mean something awful if Jim personally called him to make this appointment.

The doctor sighed and nodded. "Of course, Mr. Moran. I know how Mr. Moriarty conducts his business. This will be very tight lipped."

He took out the form Sebastian had filled out earlier, going over it quickly. "And how far along do you think you are?"

"I'd say about...10 weeks?"

"Was that when your last heat was?"

"Yeah."

"Have you ever missed your heats before?"

"No, they're mostly consistent."

"And you have taken a test?" Moran nodded. "Have any other symptoms? Change in mood, behavior? Have you been experiencing any morning sickness? Drowsiness? Anything like that?"

"For about the past month, Doc."

The doctor scribbled down the information and clicked his pen closed. "Alright, I need you to lay down on you back, shirt off. We are going to see if we can see the fetus on the sonogram, but, if not, we will have to use the internal one. I doubt we'll have to worry about that though."

Sebastian cringed at the thought and pleaded the being within that it was not too small to be seen. He took off his shirt and laid down, feeling uncomfortable as the doctor took a look at his abdomen and gave it a gentle squeeze before putting on a clear gel. A small remote within the doctors hands spread the gel around the tiny, flabby mountain of the sniper's stomach. He started moving it back and forth, trying to find any form of life within the gray picture. Just as Sebastian felt sure the baby was probably going to be too small just to spite him, the grainy, gray image of the screen showed a black kidney shape. As he slowly moved it over, a picture of a tiny being hunched up on itself came into view.  
"Ahh…there they are," the doctor said, smiling at the small screen. He turned towards Moran who could see what the doctor was talking about. The doctor turned back to the screen and pointed to the child underneath the layers of his skin, hiding it.

"There's it's little head and the body...there is its arms and legs still developing..." He pointed to various parts of the screen and names parts of their child. Sebastian let the doctor's voice wash into the background, too enraptured in the picture of his and Jim's child. Only when he pulled the remote off his stomach and the image went to gray did Sebastian come back down to earth.

"Here is a paper towel to rub off your stomach with, and once I'm done printing out these pictures, you can be on your way. Also, that morning sickness your experiencing now, it should clear up in a couple of weeks. And...I think that that is it. I'm giving you a list if things to watch out for and what to and not to do and eat so you can be on your way to having a beautiful and healthy child."

The doctor smiled at him once more, making Sebastian feel a little sorry the doctor even lost his job before remembering that he didn't care about other people's lives. This child was making him too hormonal. He watched as the doctor made his way out of the room before walking back to the waiting room. He decided that he would surprise Jim with the picture when he'd see him next. Yes, he'd think like that very much.


	4. A First Glimpse into the Future

###### 

Moran walks straight into the elevator. He could hardly wait to tell Jim, so he decided to go straight to his office. As he waited to ascend up to top of the talk office building, he went over the best way to surprise him. He hadn't notified him that he was coming right now, but he was pretty sure that someone told him that he was in the building.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, he strides along the vast hallway to his boss's office. Everything looked so...new and brighter, and he feels...lighter. The world seems like a happier place since he left the doctor's office. He doesn't understand it, but he likes it.

He gave a quick knock before walking in. He finds Jim sitting at a desk shifting through papers.

Sebastian plastered on a large smile that seemed to come from within and walked over to Jim. He stood on the opposite side of the desk, holding the ultrasound picture behind his back, until Jim looked up at him from over his papers.

"I have a surprise for you," he said like a proud little kid to his parent.

"I'm busy right now Sebby. Just leave the picture on the desk and I'll take a look at it when I'm done."

Sebastian's face deflated at Jim's words. He couldn't even spend a second to at least pretend to be surprised or be more excited that he would be able put a picture to the thought of his child.

Jim looked up at his best sniper looking like he was close to tears. He sighs and tries to remember the small bits of information the clinic doctor sent to him in an unlabeled file. Mood swings. His deadliest opponent for the next 6 months.  
He rubs his hand over his face and placed on a smile. "And now I'm done," he said, putting down his papers. "What did you want to show me, dear?"

Sebastian's face quickly lit up like Christmas. "Here, this is a preview of what I'm giving to you in about…6 months time." He pulled the photo from behind his back and handed it to Jim. Jim stared at the photo and at Sebastian's stomach. "It's...lovely, Sebastian. But don't you think you're a little bit small? I need a big, strong successor to take over. Not a small weakling."

Most pregnant people stress when others say that their too big, and yet, this still hurt as much.

Sebastian felt all the good feelings he felt after leaving the clinic wash away as sorrow and pain took its place. The army hardened sniper felt tears pool over the edges of his eyes and he quickly shut them as his eyes became blurry.

"I'm sorry alright?!" he cried. "I've been told the baby is the right size and so am I! I can't do anything about the state of the child right now,...but I think he's perfect!" He opened his watery eyes to a stunned Jim, and snatched the picture out of his hand and stomped his way to the door.

"Sebby, tiger, wait!" he said after regaining his composure. He got up to walk around to the other side of the desk and grabbed Sebastian gently by the forearm. "I didn't mean it like that," he sighed. "I was just...concerned that it was smaller than what those...things-"

"It a fucking fetus Jim! A child! Not a thing!" He yelled, cutting off his lover mid-sentence.

"I'm sorry. I mean that our child was smaller than average size. That's all." He wiped Sebastian's tears as Sebastian started to calm down. "You know I don't know anything about children, Sebby, baby." Sebastian hiccuped. "You're going to have to be patient with me until all this settles in, okay?"

Sebastian nodded and Jim leaned up to give him a kiss on his lips. He felt Sebastian raise his arms around his waist and deepen the kiss. When he tried to pull away, Sebastian tightened his hold and followed him till their lips connected again. Sebastian started to slowly lean into Jim, pushing their bodies extremely close together.

"Seb...Sebast...Sebastian, stop. Not now. I have to work." He gently shoved Sebastian until he could look him in the face. Sebastian pouted but understood. He gave him a final lingering peck on the lips and gave back the photo of their child. He gave Jim a final smile before leaving his boss's office.

When Jim saw a smiling Sebastian finally leave the front doors of the building, he let out a sigh. He still wasn't sure that this was a good idea. Having a child would change a lot of things. He was in the middle of finding a new sniper as it is. He didn't know _how_ he was going to tell Sebastian _that_ information. He didn't really _want_ to tell him that information. He had just had his first graze with a hormone fueled Sebastian that still had his head spinning. He'd hate to see him seething mad with all the hormones going through his body.

He shook his head. He couldn't contemplate Sebastian's and his personal life right now. He needed to finish the work. The work always came first.


	5. Transition Issues

###### 

12 weeks

It was early when Sebastian felt Jim get into bed. He had started to work late late hours on some project that Sebastian couldn't know about, making Sebastian feel more lonely than he thought he should feel. He wanted to spend time with his lover, instead of wondering when he'd find Jim alone and not so tired. He didn't want him regretting never experiencing his child before he was born.

He turned over to look at Jim who had his back facing him.

"You should be asleep, "Jim said without much feeling.

"I was waiting up for you. You're always too tired or too busy when I want to do something with you."

"You should still be asleep...isn't that what people who are expecting do?"

"They also spend time with the ones they care about." he said, sitting up to lean against the headboard and turned on the light. "God Jim, I know you don't do feelings or believe that this is love-"

"It's not," he said, quickly interrupting and looked dead serious.

Sebastian could feel his heart clench at the words, but carried on like Jim hadn't even spoken. "But at least talk to me. I feel like everything we've been through to get you to be more open has been wasted. You're so distant now. Why are you avoiding me?"he begged.

"I knew this was a bad idea," he sighed under his breath.

Sebastian felt like he couldn't breathe. He had thought that he had straightened out all of Jim's fears and excuses.

"What do you mean you knew that this was a bad idea? What's bad idea?" he asked panic. "If you're talking about this as in the baby-" he started angrily.

"God, Moran! Can we have one full conversation without your fucking hormones taking over? I'm afraid just to talk to you as it is. I never know what you'll do after I finish a sentence."

Sebastian took a deep breath through his nose. "What do you mean?" he forced through his teeth.

"I mean that I'm tired, your tired. You do nothing but complain that I'm not here, that I'm at work, that I don't spend enough time with you. I chose to date a sniper, not a sixteen year old girl! You're being so...clinging and whiny.

"My life is basically working and making sure every leg has a support and what's in the way is being disposed of! My work is a full time job! How can a child possibly fit into that?" he said with a raised voice by the end.

"And what about when the baby's born?" Sebastian asked calmly, saving that particular argument for another day. He quickly realized he probably didn't want to know the answer but now that it was asked, he was going to make sure he received one.

Jim thought about telling Moran the straight truth about the possibility of his new job of being their child's caretaker after the baby was going to be born, but really didn't think he would be able to handle another 20 minute cry-fest from the sniper. Best to make him slightly angry instead.

"I hired another sniper to fill your spot." he said as a way of explaining.

Sebastian's face went from sadness to complete anger in a matter of seconds. If it didn't worry Jim so much, he probably would have laughed.

"What do you MEAN THAT YOU HIRED ANOTHER SNIPER TO FILL MY SPOT?!" he roared.

"Well, you can't expect me to allow you to continue to shoot people while you're carrying a child."

"OUR child, Jim, _OUR_ child. And you know damn well that I'm your best shooter on your team or you wouldn't have trusted me with your life."

"Now, now. Don't go getting cocky, Sebby," Jim lightly scolded, which just fueled Sebastian's anger even more. He felt this conversation needed to be discussed at even height. He propped himself on his elbows and slid back until he was sitting up and leaned into the position Sebastian was in. "Anyway, you're most likely two sandwiches and a tub of ice cream away from using the 'out of shape' excuse everyone will know is a lie. How can you possibly think that you cannot attract a vast amount of attention not only in the organization, but also on a job?"

Sebastian felt like his patience wear thin and needed to be away from Jim. He threw off the covers and swung his legs over the edge of the bed and gently got off it. He started to make his way to the door when he heard Jim's voice again.

"Where the hell are you going?!"

"I am tired of being called fat and useless by an arrogant, selfish sod who cares only for himself!"

"Sebastian, how long have you known me? Of course I care about myself. That's what selfish people do."

Sebastian stared at Jim like he had sprouted another head. "You know what, fuck you." he said and walked out of the door.

"Sebastian!" Jim whined, angrily.

"Don't talk to me!" he slammed the door and made his way to another room.

He'd show Jim he wasn't useless now. He would show him he would still be the best sniper Jim could ever employ.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Sebastian. I think Jim really does love him, but he's not the person to analyze his feelings and act accordingly. His way of acting romantic is probably spending time with Sebastian while he kills someone and say 'i love you' by saying something like' "If you don't get any blood on my suit, I'll fuck you tonight." haha.


	6. I Wanted to Prove You Wrong

###### 

Sebastian looked through the scope and saw a middle aged balding man in an expensive suit. He carried a glass of red wine to an attractive young woman and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek.

He gave a sigh and took his eye away from the scope of his gun. There were too many people and not enough chances to take a shot. This kind of assignment usually allows him to relax and clear his mind while simultaneously waiting for a divine opportunity to take the life of someone who didn't deserve it (at least according to Jim). He check the portable wind gage again to make sure there was no change in the speed to the wind that could potentially change the course of his bullet.

He looked down to the building that held, who he was pretty sure, was Jim's new sniper. Though he couldn't see him very well, he had to try really hard to not turn his gun on him. He would not allow Jim to just give his job away without knowing what he was giving up.

This guy was an amateur. His posture and the place he chose to hide didn't allow him to be flexible and hidden if something went wrong. And Sebastian was damn going to make sure he would make something go wrong.  
He looked back through the scope and saw that the target hadn't moved.

He became more frustrated and wished that he could just shoot him and his companion and be done with it. He was not about to admit that he was right about pregnant people not having sniper qualities. He would rather let his pride get in the way than admit defeat; it's not like he didn't before.

He saw the sniper below move and quickly crouched down on his knee to look through the scope of the gun. The bald man was moving away and was walking over to stand in front of the window. Before the lower sniper even had enough time to prepare, Sebastian slowly squeezed the trigger and made a nice clean hole through the middle of his head.

He quickly took his gun off the tripod and gave a quick satisfied look back at his good work before hiding back into the shadows and packing up his supplies.

Sebastian walked down from the roof to a tenth floor janitorial closet. He carefully stored his gun in his gun case built to look like a briefcase.

He quickly changed into a 3 piece suit that he didn't really like, and quickly made his way to the elevator.

He dawned some reflective glasses that helped him blend in with the others in the company trying to save their eyes used to the florescent lights of their posh offices. He walked into the elevator full of others leaving for the days; none knowing that they were standing in the presence of a pregnant killer who just shot a man at least 500 feet away. He's feeling so good about himself, he even chatted up a few people on the way down.

When the elevators opened, he casually blended with the others and walked out, unnoticed by anyone that he wasn't supposed to be there. He walked past the other sniper, hurrying and cautious; making sure that any police surrounding the shot building wouldn't be suspicious of him.

Sebastian smirks as he passes. He knew this would be a good day.

###### 

"Was that some kind of fucking joke?!" the new sniper yelled, standing across from Jim at his desk.

"Tyler, just because you are top sniper while Sebastian's away indefinitely does NOT give you the right to RAISE YOUR VOICE AT ME!" Jim snarled, his voice booming off the walls.

He had already been in a bad mood recently and last night's fight with Sebastian didn't brighten it one bit.  
The sniper quickly remembered who he was talking to and took a mental step back.

"Sorry, Boss," he sighed, quietly.

"Don't let it happen again. For that, you'll be taking a pay cut and taking on more work with tougher assignments until I feel that you have learned that being top sniper doesn't mean you can act however you want."

"Yes, Boss. Thank you Boss."

"Now, what seems to be the problem?" he asked, going back to his paperwork.

"There was another sniper there. He shot the target before me. I thought that you might have...accidentally sent another sniper on the same mission."

Jim sighed and put down some plans of a new black market shipment and looked at Tyler. He always seemed to think this sniper was too...young...and too pale; slim, but not enough muscle. The thoughts of Sebastian was starting to worsen his mood and he ended up scowling at Tyler.

"Do you really doubt my talents and believe I would make such a reckless and idiotic mistake?" he sneered at Tyler.

Tyler frowned at his boss. "No, but...you seem a little...overworked and moody. It could just be a mistake." he said, cautiously.

"I DO NOT make mistakes! Mistakes are for the idiots too stupid to think and get caught! Are we clear?!"

Tyler nodded and let out the breath he didn't know he was holding when Jim looked back at the papers on his desk.

"Did you happen to see what this sniper looked like. Did you attempt to shoot him?" he asked as if he hadn't had a tantrum a second ago.

"I didn't really get to see him, but he was a little big for a sniper. He was…a bigger build than most snipers; and I don't mean buff." he held his arms out around his stomach.

Jim froze, but didn't show it. It couldn't be...  
"How was the target killed?"

"Clean shot. Straight through the skull. Long range rifle. Only saw him because he didn't even get low enough to hide. Didn't lay on his stomach, but crouched down."

Jim let all the information continually confirm his first suspicion. He felt his blood boil as his anger flared up inside him.

He picked up the phone and dialed to the front desk. "Send someone to pick up Mr. Moran and bring him back here immediately." He hung up the phone and stared at the sniper in front of him.

"Sit down, Tyler. I will need you to identify the person you saw."

"But the person who I saw wasn't Moran. I surely would have noticed. He's a pretty hard bloke to mistake."

"Just sit down and shut up! I know what I'm doing." he snapped at the sniper. God, why did he promote this guy again. He may be a decent shot, but at least he didn't have to be annoying. Sebastian wasn't this annoying.

The thought made him angry and mournful. This child was already causing problems for him. He lost a friend and sniper and gained a moody, pregnant teenager who believes he's in love (and maybe…Jim had been in love with him just a tiny bit too-before everything down hill with sex and the pregnancy.)

He heard a knock on the door to the office. The sniper got up to answer it and stood frozen, as Sebastian walked in, wearing a leather jacket that now hardly covered the shirt covering his expanding waistline. Jim used to like how tight it used to be; he was able to see his ripped and lean stomach and it only went mid-waist high. Now, the jacket was struggling to hold Sebastian's now low but a-little-bit-visible-of-you-stare-at-it-closely bump. He walked over to Jim's desk and sat on the side of it and faced Jim.  
"What do you need me for, Jim?" he asked as innocently as possible.

Jim looked around Sebastian to Tyler.

"Tyler, please sit down and tell me if this is the other man you saw on the rooftop."

Sebastian suddenly froze and slowly turned to face the man who was still frozen by the door. Sebastian snarled and quickly turned back to Jim.

"You replaced me with him?! The guy who was my competition to get this job."

"I needed to get someone with a decent shot, Sebby. Would it help if I told you I'm glad I chose you?" he asked, quietly, and set a hand on Sebastian's knee. Sebastian looked down at his knee and let a small smile grace his lips.

"A little," he drawled out.

'Hmm...pregnancy made Sebastian more susceptible to manipulation. Have to expand on the subject later,' Jim thought to himself.

"I'm right here, you know," Tyler interrupted.

Jim looked at him and lipped 'emotional'.

Jim sighed and looked back at Sebastian. "Sebby, darling," he asked softly. "Why did you go to Tyler's job even though you knew that I didn't want you working?" He moved his hand up to carious his stomach and leaned into to him.

Sebastian frowned, but answered anyway. "You said that I was useless and that I wouldn't be able to shoot if I was pregnant. I wanted to show you that you were wrong and I can still work."

He leaned into Jim also. Jim's hand trailed up Sebastian's shirt and trailed to his shirt collar. Tyler started to feel uncomfortable, but Jim hadn't dismissed him to enable him to leave.

"Sebastian," he be whispered, an inch away from his face. He suddenly tightened his grip on his collar and forced him closer to his face till they were nose to nose.

Sebastian, who was swimming in a haze of hormones his body produced and the smell of his alpha gave off, snapped out of it once Jim's angry face was too close for comfort.

"SEBASTIAN MORAN! DON'T YOU EVER PULL THAT CRAP AGAIN! This guy," he shouted, pointing to the sniper staring at the proceedings, "could have killed you quickly and efficiently and then he would have accidentally signed his own death warrant. I would have killed HIM because he killed YOU and the BABY. IF YOU PULL THIS SHIT AGAIN, I WILL SEND YOU TO THE FARTHEST CORNER OF AFRICA UNTIL THIS CHILD IS BORN! Do you understand me?" he asked sweetly at the end.

Sebastian nodded then smiled. "Jim, ever the romantic," he said, reading the true meaning between the lines.

Jim's angry facade broke and he had to smile. "You know it, darling." he puckered out his lips and Sebastian closed the gap quickly.

"Now, I expect you home when I get back..." he pulled Sebastian closer and whispered in his ear, "and maybe we'll have some fun when I gets home." He took a large smell of his omega. "You smell amazing."

Sebastian blushed and hated it. He gave Jim another quick kiss before getting up and leaving the office.

Jim turned to the now bright red sniper and put on a serious and angry face. "And Tyler, if any of what has been seen or heard in this office leaves this office, then you will also be shipped to the farthest corner of Africa without anyone ever having a chance to find your body. Understood?"

"Y-yes sir."

"You are dismissed."

Tyler quickly made a hasty retreat.


	7. Cracks in Our Foundation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's a little hormonal and weird craving Sebastian. A Little angst and drama. eh... something along those lines.

###### 

14 weeks

When Jim first started to notice Sebastian's increase of his sex drive, he thought nothing of it. He thought it would be a nice change from all the crazy hormones and finally have some pleasure out of this whole debacle. This was way better than hurt or comfort and he planned on using this emotion to its fullest potential.

By the third day, Jim was a little bit tired, but immensely satisfied with his sexual life. He was used to this much sex with Sebastian with his heat, so he was fairly well off so far; a little tired, but well.

By the end of the week, Jim was very tired and very miserable. He felt he couldn't keep up with Sebastian's desires and keep up with his work load at the same time, no matter what he did.

Sebastian curled up next to Jim in his arms. He knew he'd recently been more...desirous of Jim's attention. His hormones had increased his sex drive substantially, which meant Jim hasn't actually had a decent amount of sleep in at least two weeks. Every time Jim turned around, Sebastian wanted to jump his bones; in the shower, in his office, during the middle of dinner. Too much clingy-ness and not enough sleep were not making Jim happy. He had fallen asleep in his office more than once; he always woke to Tyler's knowing smile. He was really starting to hate that guy.

All Jim wanted was a little nice 14 hour nap. Was that too hard to ask for? He tried to drift off to sleep before Sebastian's libido kicked back up again only to feel a nudge as he was about to go under.

"What do you want, Sebastian?"

"I'm hungry, Jim."

"You know where the kitchen is Sebastian. I'm not your maid. I'm not going to cook for you every time you feel like eating a whole cow by yourself."

He knew that was a little overboard, but he was so tired, he really couldn't summon up the energy to care.  
Sebastian frowned at Jim and turned away from him. If Jim was going to act like a jerk to him to make him cry...  
Jim heard Sebastian sniff and he looked at what was now a bitter faced Moran. He rolled his eyes. He couldn't stand it when someone was sad or cried. If it was anyone but Sebastian and the burden, he was pretty sure that they would be dead by his hands by now.

He sighed and sat up. "I'm sorry, Moran. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." he said sarcastically.

"Whatever," Moran said, annoyed at Jim. He pulled on his pants and made his way out of the room and into the kitchen.

When he pulled open the fridge, he couldn't help but lick his lips at all the possibilities inside. Since beginning his fourth month, his eating habits have increased and it was doing nothing for his continually expanding stomach.  
Even though it was a fully stocked fridge, he couldn't find what he wanted. He wanted...a particular...something, but he didn't know what. He was about to close the fridge in frustration when, in the corner of his eye, he saw a pack of strawberry yogurt. He took one package and held it up to his eye level. He closed the fridge and went for a spoon when he saw a jar on the counter. A jar of...pickles! He struggled with the jar for a minute before successfully opening it. He quickly stuck his hand inside of the jar, pulled out the pickle, and held it in between his teeth while he opened the yogurt.

When he finally was able to dip his pickle into the yogurt and eat it, he let out a sinful moan. This was exactly what he needed. He turned and happily chewed his way back into the bedroom. When he entered, Jim was practically dead to the world. He climbed in next to him and nudged him awake.

"Sebastian, if someone hasn't died, I will punch you; child or not." he said with a tired voice and his eyes still closed.

"Why have you been so mean lately?" Sebastian pouted but his smile returned when he took another bite of his pickle-yogurt concoction.

"Sebastian, You know how I feel about food in bed."

"You never complained that one time you licked all that icing off-"

"That is a different circumstance and a one time deal! You know that!"

"Sorry. Think of it as payment for that mean comment earlier."

"Okay. Can I go back to bed now?" He hated how close he was to begging.

"But Jim..." he said drawling out the last letter of his name, knowing Jim hated his name whined like that. He leaned over and placed a lingering kiss on his lips.

When Jim tasted what was on Sebastian's lips, he roughly shoved him away. He quickly opened his eyes and stared at Moran.

"What the fuck have you been eating?!"

He looked at the bedside table and saw the contents; he felt as if all the hours of lost sleep were causing him to hallucinate.

"What?" Sebastian asked confused like there was nothing wrong with eating a yogurt covered pickle.

"Are you seriously telling me there is nothing wrong with eating that. We have a whole fridge of regularfood. I know this for a fact." He ran his hand through his messy and tangled hair. He couldn't summon up the energy to care about what he looked like recently; ergo, his hair was a bit longer than usual and his normal four o' clock shadow was soon going to turn into a scratchy, patchy beard. He'd been afraid to shave in case exposing his neck of his hickies while shaving gave Sebastian ideas. He suppressed a shiver, knowing that, subconsciously, there was something dark to the idea of having a razor to his throat.

"I was hungry and this what I wanted to eat," Sebastian stated, bring Jim back from plunging into dark thoughts.

Jim thought of it as a lost cause to argue and turned back over and closed his eyes to go to sleep.

"Jim..." Sebastian whined and nudged him again.

"What, Moran?"he asked through gritted teeth.

"Can you not go to work tomorrow? Can we do something instead?"

Jim sighed. "No. I stayed here with you all week. I have work to get back to. Now let me sleep."

It was blissfully silent for one minute when he felt another nudge. He felt he may have to punch Moran to get him to understand 'let me sleep'!

"What is it Moran?!"

"Are you mad at me Jim?" he asked, sadly.

"SEBASTIAN FUCKING MORAN! I swear if you do not let me sleep..."

Sebastian was quiet on the other side of Jim. He took it as a good sign that he had gotten his point across and angrily fluffed his pillow.

"Why are you always so mean to me? I don't mean to be all hormonal. It's not my fault. I'm trying not to be!" Sebastian cried.

Something in Jim finally snapped. The combination of little sleep, the hormones, the crying, the whole baby business in general sent him over the edge of self control.

He knew that accepting the idea of a child wouldn't be what he wanted. He had fallen for the stupid puppy dog eyes and the soft spot he held for his sniper. Now, he was stuck in something he really didn't want to be stuck in. He needed time to think; somewhere where he didn't feel that he was drowning in his sniper's emotions or hormones to influencing his judgments. He needed to think _everything_ over. Was he really going to be a fucking father? Why had they avoided this shit for this long?

Throwing off the covers, he started to pull on some casual clothes and left a stunned and confused Sebastian in their flat without another word.


	8. Depending On No One but Myself

###### 

Sebastian stared at the door Jim had just walked out of and heard the front door slam not too long after. Why had Jim left without even saying where he was going? Even Sebastian hadn't been that mad at something Jim had done recently to actually _leave_ the flat. Had he said something that set Jim off?

Sebastian started to panic. Where was Jim going? What was he doing? Was he going to come back tomorrow? What if he decided to never come back?

Sebastian's vision started to swim and he felt extremely dizzy. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths. He brought his knees as far as he could to his chest without crushing his stomach. It wouldn't do him any good to panic at a time like this. What did Jim say before he left? He needed some sleep? Maybe he left to be able to get some. He would have probably done the same thing. Sebastian should had listened to Jim and just shut the hell up. Him and his stupid hormones!

He sighed and slowly opened his eyes. He hoped that he would be back tomorrow. Please, let him come back tomorrow.

###### 

Day 3

Sebastian was furious. It had been two fucking days since he had even gotten a fucking text from Jim. How he could possibly ignore him and act like everything was alright, Sebastian would never know.

Jim had even banned him from entering his workplace unless it was to go to the clinic; no doubt Jim would know if he was going to actually see the doctor or not.

That night, he had ended up breaking all of Jim's good plates just to spite him and cursed himself. What was he, a fucking housewife? Breaking plates? He opened his weapons case and took out his guns and knives and started to tearing apart their living room.

He slashed their furniture Jim liked so much and shot Jim's favorite cups in the kitchen from their destroyed couch.

By midnight, Sebastian was asleep in an ocean of furniture fluff and wood, dreaming that Jim would come back.

###### 

Day 5

Sebastian had never wanted a cigarette as badly as he had since he found out about the pregnancy. Instead, he had to satisfy his cravings with the poor substitute of sugar. He had gone through a pint of ice cream earlier and was working on his second now. It was tempting to just take a little drink of scotch or a shot of strong liquor to smooth his nerves. He ends up throwing all the liquor out (especially all of Jim's favorite, expensive liquor).

He checked his phone for what felt like the tenth time that evening. Jim still hadn't contacted him in any way. Even though he was pretty sure that Jim has some kind of surveillance on him, it wasn't fair that he couldn't check that Jim was alright also.

He felt that Jim had had enough time to do whatever he had left to do. Why was he still gone? Sebastian had left Jim, like, 5 messages and he still hadn't gotten an answer.

Sebastian sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He couldn't just stay here wondering, but he knew Jim would be angry for just going out. He couldn't be as conspicuous as he once was when he wasn't showing so much.

He closed his eyes and scrunched up his face. No matter how much he wanted to blame this child for the problem(s) he was facing, he just couldn't. He knew their problems were from the problems they never discussed before.

He had to admit that they had been acting very stupid to think not to mention something that could possibly happen, thinking that it wouldn't. Just because Jim was Jim didn't mean that life's consequences didn't affect him. Maybe Jim felt this child was forcing his hand into something he didn't want to be forced into, but he did agree to having this child with him.

All this thinking was making his head spin. If only Jim would just _talk_ to him. He took a deep breath and decided he needed to make a decision; should he continue to worry about if Jim was going to be there or leave or was Sebastian going to have to move on? He couldn't keep playing this game with Jim. He needed to be here all the way or not here at all.

Sebastian let out another sigh and felt something like gas move in his stomach. He stifled a burp and confirmed his suspicion. He rubbed his stomach, not knowing what he should do. He really needed to talk to Jim.

###### 

Day 10

Sebastian sat on his newly replaced couch and ate off the newly replaced dinnerware. All if it looked exactly like the precious ones that he had destroyed a week ago.

He hadn't made a definite decision on what to do about Jim. Right now, he decided to take it one day at a time. Stress would be bad for the baby. Why worry? Right now, he decided to worry about him and the baby. He was pretty much set with what he thought he would need for his living plans till the baby was born. He was well financed until he went back to work, he had his own form of protection, and he could easily send one of Jim's workers to get whatever he needed. He had everything in order...except his life.

###### 

Day 13

He had a call from the doctor at the clinic and learned he has an appointment set up for him to come the next day. It made him extremely angry that Jim wouldn't call him directly, but he didn't take it out on the furniture and the dishes this time; he had gotten better at controlling his hormones a bit. He wasn't on different scales of the spectrum as much.

He was concentrating on deciding to turn which room into the child's nursery. Even though he didn't know the child's gender just yet, he wanted to start on ideas and plan on what to get.

How far along was he? 16 weeks tomorrow? So he was close to knowing what the baby could be, but he didn't know if he was going to find out immediately what gender it was. He would no doubt love it if it were either gender, but he'd like it to stay a secret a little while longer. Plus, he thinks It would anger Jim at least a little. Not being able to know something that's he could easily know if he just apologized to him.

He stifled another burp and rubbed his stomach. He felt a little bubble move down his chest before it disappeared. He hated that how he was more gassy since he started getting farther along, but he heard that it was common for people this far along.

He sighed and looked at more color patterns. He shouldn't be doing this. A) he didn't know what he was doing and B) it was not in his job description to pick color patterns. When in the middle of planning to kill someone do you fucking think, his blood won't work with the design of this room? He could hire someone to take care of this, but with his job in hold and his non-concrete relationship, he didn't want to spend all that money and have to struggle to pay for large expenses later.

Could he take Jim to court for child support? Probably not. Jim could totally rig it. Why the he'll was he thinking that anyway? The just had a fight, not fucking divorcing.

He let out a grunt and pulled out out a color he didn't really hate, but he didn't like it either. It was all a really frustrating process and he put everything to the side and struggled to get up. His growing stomach caused him problem with balance and he had to constantly stop himself from tipping. He hated the fact that he would get bigger; he wasn't used to being the size he was now. Thunk of how big he'd be at the end of the of the pregnancy. A strict diet plan would be needed if he planned in returning to work as quickly as possible.

Getting fatigued a little quicker was something he wasn't used to either he thought as crawled into his bed he still felt was too big without Jim there. He moaned as he found a comfortable position and sank a little into the mattress. At least it gave him the freedom to move around into any position his heart desired. It did help relieve the small kink in his back he constantly felt now that he started growing larger.

He turned off the light and placed a pillow where Jim usually slept and hugged one arm around it and let the settle onto his abdomen as he quickly drifted off to sleep.


	9. Only Want One Touch

###### 

16 weeks

Sebastian sat in the waiting room of a small office, away from the other men coming to the clinic to get checked on new or past injuries sustained on their jobs. He hadn't been able to attend an earlier appointment time, so the only other time they could fit him in was during a slow hour. Still, with one or two others in the waiting room, the staff was under strict orders from Jim to keep him out of sight.

Sebastian sighed. He hadn't seen Jim in the two weeks since the (was it a fight?) that they had. He still had no idea why Jim had left. He admitted he has been a little too high maintenance and Jim may have left to get some undisturbed sleep, but that was whole fucking two weeks ago. He hadn't heard or seen him since. He constantly had to force himself to not care about where Jim was or what he was doing every moment and it made him anxious; God, he craved a cigarette.

Sebastian saw the nurse beckoning him to follow her and he cautiously got up, gripping the edge of the chair as the room started to spin. He waved the nurse away when she started to walk over and clutched his lower back. He saw her scribble a note on the clipboard she had in her hand, and walked close to Sebastian as she led him down the hall, making sure she could assist him if he felt faint.

When she opened the door, he saw that the doctor was already sitting at a small desk in the corner of the room. Sebastian made his way the examination table as the nurse gave his doctor his clipboard and left the room.

"Hello, Sebastian. How are you today?"

"Rick, I'm fine."

He never noticed when they had reached first name based acquaintance/friendship. Maybe the connecting factor was the child. He seemed really excited to be able to experience the fetus to child road alongside him. Too bad Sebastian wasn't feeling the same.

"Okay, I see that the nurse has written me a note that you are experiencing some dizziness."

"Yeah, mostly when I stand up though. Nothing major. Worst is being off balance."

"Alright, and how has your morning sickness been?"

"It has completely subsided. Though, I do occasionally feel nauseous with certain foods or smells."

His pen continued to fly over the paper as he spoke. "That is totally normal, and will most likely continue throughout the pregnancy. Other symptoms?" he asked, not looking up at him.

Sebastian tried to go over the last month of symptoms over in his head. He moved one hand from the table to his stomach when he felt a gas bubble pass his mid-section.

"My hormones have been more controlled lately. Constant hunger, cravings, backache, constant gas bubbles," he said as he felt another one pass.

The doctor clicked off his pen when he was finished writing and looked at Sebastian.

"Alright. These are normal symptoms for someone your term. Just remember that you need to take in extra calories in a smart way. Don't overdo it. You may start to look bigger than most pregnant omegas, but that is only because men tend to look larger since their hips are thinner. Eat healthy and go by that list I have you. Alright!" he said with way more excitement than Sebastian felt. "Now we're going to see what the little one looks like inside."

Sebastian nodded and laid down. He lifted up his shirt and allowed the clear gel to be squeezed over his abdomen before the doctor started to spread it around with the remote. He was able to find his child more quickly this time. Sebastian noticed how the fetus looked more...human; way more developed than last time. You could actually tell it looked like a baby.

The doctor moved the remote over a certain spot and Sebastian felt another microscopic rumble. The doctor smiled at Sebastian and saw him lift his head and grimace.

"Sorry, I told you I constantly had gas.."

The doctor laughed at him. It made Sebastian wish he had his gun. No one laughed at him when they were staring down a barrel. The doctor quickly sobered when he glanced at him, but continued to smile.

"Sebastian, you felt the baby kick. It's still small and weak, but it definitely moved. It's common for first timers to mistake movements for gas."

Sebastian let the words sink in for a second before letting out a small chuckle of his own. He rubbed his stomach gently, being careful of the gel.

"And I've been contributing you as gas all this time," he said softly to his stomach. He laid his head back on the table and rubbed his hand over his face, feeling the scar under his fingertips. He really wished that Jim was here. Maybe if Jim actually saw what was going on in the moment instead of having a still photo, it would enable him to at least connect more with the child that was partially his.

A loud _WHOOSH WHOOSH_ filled the room. Sebastian looked up again at the doctor who was again smiling at the screen.

"It's your child's heartbeat," he said in a way if explanation. Sebastian gave a curt nod showing he understood. He had better control over his emotions now. Even if there was a little part of him that wanted to be emotional, his sniper pride wouldn't allow it.

"Would you like to try to learn the sex?"

Sebastian thought about it for a second. "Not today. Next time."

The doctor nodded in agreement. He shut off the ultrasound device and gave Sebastian a towel.  
Sebastian wiped down his stomach before sitting up and looking at the doctor.

"Um..." he said, clearing his throat. "Is there any way we can keep this between us?" he said, waving his hand between the space separating them. "I don't really want Jim to know, yet."

The portly man frowned at Sebastian. "You know what you're asking me to do can most likely get me in trouble. I wish I could, but if Jim asks, I have to show him."

"Can you at least hold off on telling him? We kind of...had a disagreement and aren't on good terms at the moment. I think I need to talk to Jim to get some shit settled."

The doctor sighed but nodded. "Just, make sure you're not too stressed. It can potentially be harmful to the child."  
Sebastian smiled, "Do you think an association with Jim is nothing if not stressful in itself?"  
The doctor's frown deepened.

He sighed. "I'll take your word to heart if it makes you feel better." He gently got off the table, waving away the doctors helping hand. What the hell was wrong with the staff in this clinic? Just because he is pregnant did not mean he's fucking infirm.

He walked out the office and made his way to a convenient pharmacy down the street. He picked up a prescription for a few prenatal vitamins (that seemed like the size of his head compared to the contraception pills he'd taken before; another punishment for fucking up by bringing a child into it. And why the hell were there so many?! If only they were useful to sell. Darn shame) and decided he felt good enough to walk the rest of the way back to the flat.  
He had barely made it to the end of the block before he was stopped by a black car pulling up beside him. The dark tinted window rolled down by his side and he leaned in, craning his neck to see if Jim was inside. Instead, it was that annoying temp. replacement.

"Jim sent me to take you home. He was pretty pissed when you didn't get a car. Pretty sure your causing someone to lose a finger or two over this," he said nonchalantly.

"Piss off. And that goes for Jim too. If he really cared, he would have come to pick me up himself. I'm walking and you can go screw yourself!"

He leaned up too quickly and saw spots in front of his eyes. He shut them tightly and took deep breaths, concentrating in not throwing up as he felt his vertigo shift. He felt like he was spinning; his damn body! What the hell was wrong with him now? He couldn't stand feeling weak. For fuck's sake, he was a military man!

He felt a hand catch him as he stumbled and was escorted into the back of the car. He angrily shook it off (what the hell was wrong with everyone trying to touch him! He was really getting fed up with them) and kept his eyes closed as he was laid back on the seats.

"Really, I don't have this shit written in my clause. Babysitter to the baby carrier? I'm a fucking sniper!" he heard Tyler grumble under his breath as he sat in the driver's seat. Sebastian let his voice drift into nothing more than white noise as he felt the car hum into life and was driven home.

He didn't know how long it was before he felt hands sitting him up and helping him out of the car. He still kept his eyes close; though his nausea had lessen greatly, he didn't trust his eyes and was grateful to the man he dearly hated with a passion when he felt his bed touch his back. He gently settled into it quickly and rapidly descended into sleep before the temp (it was best and shortest nickname he could come up with) had even enough time to leave the flat.


	10. The Confrontation

###### 

Jim sat at his desk, twirling his pen between his fingers; feeling much better since he had gotten the rest that he needed. He looked down at his desk, overflowing with papers of current assignments, and saw a grainy security photo of Sebastian leaving the building from his appointment two days ago. Jim vaguely realizes he still hasn't received new information on Sebastian's...condition. He makes a mental note to talk to the clinic doctor later.

He stares at Sebastian's now clearly visible stomach, sighing as he realizes the shirt Sebastian is wearing is a little too snug on him; he's clearly ignoring the fact he need to start switching to the paternity clothes he had bought beforehand. He wouldn't end up so self conscious if his larger clothes covered his abdomen better.

"Do you think that if I station myself on this side of the building, I would be able to make it over here and be able to hide from onlookers?" a close voice asked, breaking him from his daydreaming.

He sighed, annoyed from being interrupted and looked at Tyler. He pointed a rough finger at a shaded area on a building in a picture around where his next mission was set to take place later on that evening.

"Sebastian would have been here...," Jim pointed to a building in the farthest corner of the picture, "...to be able stay low and be sure he could get out without having to rush. He did always like to put his toys away gently." He sighed bitterly as he turned back to his desk.

Tyler wrinkled his nose bitterly. Every time Jim spoke, it seemed it had to do something with fucking Sebastian Moran. He absolutely despised when Jim compared their talents; putting Sebastian on a fucking pedestal when Tyler knew he was just as good as him. He vaguely thinks it maybe because he wasn't in the army; it could be that Jim just had some weird army fetish.

The recent moping about his use-to-be sniper was really starting to grate on his nerves. Anyone could tell that Jim Moriarty did not want this spawn that Sebastian was trying to force on Jim. Why does Sebastian even think Jim was staying here at all. The only place Sebastian was forbidden to enter?

Tyler sighed and went to sulk in a corner.

Sebastian was old news. He was never going to work here again, so why was Jim still complaining? He had found a new and permanent sniper; it was time for Jim to let it settle. Sebastian would now be a useless sniper to him. Had he not told Sebastian of his new job?

Tyler snorted, earning a glare from Jim. He quickly adverted his eyes, not wanting to be yelled at or punished for being happy when Jim wasn't.

Sebastian would be a joke now. How could he possibly hold his head up to evil and immoral men with a child and the title of glorified caretaker? He'll be laughed out of any interview or job he'll apply, and it's not like Jim is going to give him a job to even kill a squirrel.

"Oh!" he heard Jim say, surprised. It was rare in itself to ever hear the boss be surprised about anything. Tyler snapped his head to Jim, seeing him staring at a security screen on a computer. He made his way to the back of the desk and looked over his boss's shoulder.

He saw a nervous but clearly angry Sebastian Moran in the elevator; his arms crossed and he stared at the control panel, most likely knowing the camera was there.

As much as Tyler hated this guy, he had to give his props to the person brave enough to barge into the boss's office; even if he was his pregnant lover. Jim never did play favorites.

"What should I do?" Tyler asked, praying Jim would let him just do away with him.

Jim sat staring at the screen for a little while longer before giving his answer.

"Nothing." he said, nonchalantly, as if something like this happened every day. "We will continue on with working as if he's just another client or employee." Tyler nodded and went to get another photo to show Jim.

He pointed to a large window facing some other buildings he was trying to scope out. "So, I would get a more accurate target if I was-"

He was cut off by the sound of the door bouncing off the wall and an angry faced Moran half walking half teetering into the office. Jim noticed that Sebastian had obviously gained a few since the last time he had seen him; his stretch marks obvious from the exposed skin on the underside of his belly. He wore a combination of a cotton t-shirt and a pair of gray sweatpants that came over half his baby bump. Tyler quickly saw the glint of a knife and quickly drew his hand gun.

Sebastian momentarily stopped, eyes wide, before quickening his pace towards Jim's new sniper. Tyler calmly placed his hand in the trigger and was desperately wishing he could pull it.

"Tyler, if you pull that trigger, it will be the end of you before you can even turn to realign a shot," he heard his boss say. "The blood of the knife was clearly used to neutralize the guard outside."

Tyler let out a strained sigh through his teeth; disgusted at the awe in his Jim's voice. He slowly let the gun focus off of his target and turned back to the picture. He turned back to Moran with a look of complete hatred at him.

Sebastian ignored him and came to a stop on the other side of the desk as Jim also turned back to the picture Tyler was discussing with him.

"Jim," Sebastian said through gritted teeth.

Jim quickly looked up from under his lashes and held up a finger to Sebastian before concentrating on the photo again.

Sebastian squeezed his eyes shut to stop him from murdering this men before him. He gripped the handle of the knife tighter and tried again. He took a couple of deep breaths, and tried to stay calm. Stress wouldn't do the baby good.

"Jim!" be tried, hating how Jim kept ignoring him and discuss the picture with Tyler.

"I'm busy right now, Sebastian." He spared him another second glance before continuing with the photo.

Sebastian quickly lost the battle with his anger and slammed the knife down on the table. "SET YOUR ASS HERE! TAKE THE DAMN SHOT FACING EAST THIS WAY, AND GET YOUR STUPID ASS OUT THROUGH THIS WAY ACTING LIKE YOUR FUCKING BELONGED THERE THE WHOLE FUCKING TIME." he shouted, stabbing the picture with his finger.

Be turned to face Jim. "NOW, FUCKING _TALK_ TO ME!"

Jim looked over all the points Sebastian had pointed out on the picture, going over the instructions that was shouted along with them. He realized Sebastian's plan was the best, as always.

Jim slowly turned to Tyler and looked him on the eyes. He seemed a little stunned at the speech, but awaited his instructions from Jim.

"As always, Sebastian has the best solutions. Follow his instructions and your job will be easy for you and satisfactory for me. You are excused."

Tyler gave a stiff nod and turned to leave, murmuring curses under his breath to Moran.

"Can I shoot him?" Moran asked, looking over his shoulder as the door Tyler left out if closed.

"If I can't let him shoot you, you can't shoot him." Jim held in a sigh and leaned back in his chair. "And was it really necessary that you had to stab my guard. Even though you're not supposed to be allowed to enter, they know not to hurt you! Did you throw up on him when he bled?"

"Can you cut the crap? If you would have been home for the last two weeks instead of hiding out here, you would know that my morning sickness has receded. I want to know why you have decided to make me worry and stress out for the last two weeks, Jim."

"I needed to get some sleep and-"

"BULL SHIT!" Sebastian interrupted.

Jim squinted his eyes and glared at him. "Fine. I still don't think that a child is what we need. You may be excited to bring in a child and think we'll take care of it like one big happy family with a car, a house with a white picket fence, and the public school," he said the last word with distain. "but I am not the settle down type, hence the job choice, the sniper lover, and walking through the dark allies, playing games of cat-and-mouse with a certain detective who thinks he could beat me. This _child_ is already taking one of the good things of part of my life. I refuse to allow it to take any more. I chose a lover who wouldn't be the clinging, romancing, horrid type. I wanted someone who was strong, and built, and have excellent talents I need to protect me and to harm those that required harming. Not a hormonal teenager that cried and whined and used me for their own entertainment." he gritted his teeth and snarled. I _DO NOT_ need to, or _WANT TO_ , change my life because some...THING...decided to invade my life with its presence!"

Jim ended his speech, panting and feeling angry that Sebastian made him lose control so often now. How stupid he had been to think that he could act like everything would be alright because his lover wanted to have his child. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

"JAMES FUCKING MORIARTY!" Sebastian bellowed, shock overtaking Jim instead of the seething anger. "MAN UP AND STOP BEING A FUCKING PRISSY ASS SNOB! Yes, we both have doubts. You're not fucking alone in that department. No one's asking you to give up your fucking job or change your fucking ways. This shit will only work if we both work together. You're keeping your job and I'm keeping mine. We BOTH have to go through this thing 100% or we'll only end up with regrets and a child who won't deserve that. I am not fucking up this child's life because you cannot get your shit together!"

Jim could only stare at Sebastian until his shock subsided and his brain caught up with the world. Sebastian had never called Jim by his full first andlast name at the same time before. Damn, Sebastian was very pissed; was it wrong for him to find himself grow a little stiff at that? He mentally shook his head. It felt like the Sebastian he hadn't seen for four months. The only one not too frightened to put Jim in his place if the need be. God, he wanted to kiss him. Maybe later; and maybe put Sebastian in his place.

"What are we going to do then?" Jim asked calmly.

"You're going to stop fucking barring me from your life, first. I expect you to at least come and pay attention at my next appointment and I damn well better fucking expect you in the flat in the fucking bed tonight. When you're not raging havoc on the world, you can fucking believe you will spend at least some time in preparing for your spawn to be brought into this fucking world. Is that clear, boss?" he said the last word, mockingly.

Jim genuinely smiled for the first time in two weeks and walked over to Sebastian. "I knew there was a reason I...fell you." He patted his cheek a little too hard. "Don't forget who you're talking to. The minions hear about this and you're in Poland for long time, Sebby."

Sebastian felt a warmth pass through him when Jim used one of his nicknames. "So...lunch?

"Why not?" Jim answered.

"Good. You're paying. Find a place that sells good fish and chocolate."

"We can go get seafood and I'll have chocolate waiting for us at the flat."

"No. I want them at the same time..."

Jim looked at the blonde haired man standing next to him and grimaced before shrugging his shoulders. They could be okay, Jim thought to himself as he entwined his pinky with his sniper's and headed for the door.


	11. Don't We Look Pretty Domestic?

###### 

18 weeks

Sebastian walked through the store, trying to make a decision he once thought was going to be easy, even if he didn't have all the facts about his child. He pulled an ivory colored onesie off of the rack and read the size. He held the piece of clothing at arm's length and couldn't believe that children actually started out at that small. How was he actually to know how large his child was going to be until the birth? What if he was four lbs.? Or 10 lbs.? What colors were you buy for a child who was classified as unisex for the moment?

He heard the clicking of soles of someone who was walking at a brisk pace. The clicking soon stopped and a voice took its place.

"Sebastian."

"Over here, Jim," he beckoned and put a size 2m in the basket. He turned around and saw Jim holding what looked like an aisle full of baby and small children suits.

"Jim, were looking for clothes for a newborn. The child wouldn't even be able to fit in any of that stuff until about a year; and what if it's a girl?"

"Really, Sebastian. Do you think gender makes a difference in who wears a suit? The only difference would be that it would have to be re-tailored."

"No, Jim. Maybe when the baby old enough, you can have a specially made suit for them. For now, were sticking to these types of clothes," he said, turning back to the small, cotton jumpers for newborns. He put a pale yellow one inside of the basket.

"Don't you want our child to look good? None of these cheap imitations compare to a well crafted suit."

He snatched the top Sebastian had just put in and threw it back onto the rack. He scanned the rest of the clothes, taking out all he found unfit to clothe his child with.

"Really, Seb. Where did you get your taste? I hope it has my sense of style."

"There's not many color options in the army; unless you count the many shades of greens and browns."

Jim slipped his hand into the taller man's and took the basket from him. He thought about Sebastian in his army uniform and scanned his lover's stomach.

"It's a shame that you cannot still fit into your uniform. All of your past clothes are too tight now," he sighed, softly.

"Please, Jim, don't comment about my weight," he asked, rolling his eyes.

"All I'm asking is why don't you wear the paternity clothes? Do we need to pick some up while we're here?"

"No! I'm just...trying to savor the last item(s) of my original self before I have to fully adapt into someone I'm normally not. My mood is different, my habits have changed, and now, I'll soon be too big to fit into my clothes."

"I think you have already reached that stage," Jim told him softly as he put a random package of diapers into the basket. Sebastian winced and tried to slip his hand from Jim's, but Jim tightened his hold. "You know that I'm not saying it to be mean. Plus, all of those symptoms only last so long, but once the baby's born, your physical self will change back along with your emotional self. Don't worry, your still Sebastian on the outside, just a tad bit...squishier," Jim said, pecking his cheek before turning back to look at a package of baby wipes.

Sebastian smiled. "Did the great Jim Moriarty just show a small bit of compassion?"

Jim slightly glanced at Sebastian. "I've been told by a pregnant sniper that I should show a little more...emotion when we are alone. This could grow into a good thing if he decides to keeps his mouth and never speak about it."

Sebastian's smile widened. He took Jim's face in his hands and brought his lips to his. He melted into the kiss as he allowed Jim to dominate when he felt a strong kick and gasped, causing Jim to release his hold on his lips.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just...felt a stronger than normal kick. Surprised me, that's all." Sebastian moved his free hand to rub his stomach. "Hello," he said softly to his stomach.

He was surprised again when he felt Jim's hand on his stomach along with his. It was then that he realized that it was Jim's first time touching his stomach directly since he had found out about the pregnancy. His skin was very warm [which vastly contradicted his emotional state, Sebastian thought] and he felt another kick.

"It likes you. Still want to nickname it Burden?" He raised an eyebrow at Jim.

Jim slightly frowned. "I didn't feel it kick. It may like me, but it doesn't like me much."

"Jim," Sebastian sighed but allowed a corner of lip to quirk upward. "The baby's not big enough for you to feel it yet. You have to wait a little while longer."

Jim momentarily became lost in thought before staring into Sebastian's eyes. "Fine, it's not a TOTAL burden, but it has reached human status. Until I come up with a better name, it will be called its correct term, Fetus."

As Jim lead Sebastian to check out, Sebastian let a wide grin grace his lips. He wouldn't have expected anything less from Jim. Turning a description onto a name.

"You were talking to Fetus earlier. Can it even hear you?"

"That's what I've read. If it's able to hear my heartbeat, it should be able to hear my voice, or at least the hum if it."

Jim made a noncommittal grunt.

"Yes, it's able to feel external stimuli also. That's why I was able to feel a kick when you touched it." Sebastian said, answering a question he thought Jim wasn't asking.

"I wasn't thinking about that; I'm still on the name topic. What are we going to name it?"

Sebastian frowned as Jim set the basket on the conveyor belt and waited for the female beta ahead of them to finish paying for her goods.

"Well, we can come up with a few names that we like for each gender and...find the best one that will suit them."

Jim huffed. "We can also just go and visit our doctor friend for five minutes and finally answer the question we've been waiting for."

"No. That was your punishment and I'm not going back on it just because I've forgiven you. Also, quit calling our child an IT!"

Jim rolled his eyes at Sebastian and turned toward the cashier. The slightly balding man flashed an obviously fake smile as he greeted him. As he scanned his items, a jagged edge of a package deeply sliced his ring finger, causing a stream of crimson blood to slide down his palm and drip onto the floor. The cashier cursed and grabbed a sheet of paper towels to try to slow the bleeding.

Next to him, Jim felt Sebastian stiffen and pulled his hand out of Jim's grasp. Sebastian's hand flew to his mouth before hurrying to the nearest trash can.

Jim chuckled softly so he wouldn't hurt Sebastian's feelings. A replacement cashier took the old one's place and stared angrily at Jim for laughing at his partner's misfortune. He paid and tried to sober a little before taking the bags and checking on Sebastian.

"You alright, tiger?"

Sebastian leaned against the brick wall, looking pale from the experience he had had. Jim softly patted his head and lightly scratching the scalp as Sebastian laid his head on his shoulder before enveloping him into a hug.

Sebastian closed his eyes and savored the moment. Jim lightly kissed him on his temple before asking him again. Sebastian nodded and straightened up, opening his eyes as he did so. He took a step away from Jim and rejoined their hands.

"Let's go home. That probably wiped you out."

Sebastian nodded and let Jim guide him out to an awaiting car.


	12. Heating Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not posting this sooner. I forgot since i am working on my current story, _The Many Faces of John Watson_. hope to be posting another chapter of that soon.

###### 

20 weeks

Tyler had his nose buried in an assignment as he walked into his boss's office on a sunny weekday morning. He wanted to go over it with the boss before carrying it out. He walked past the receptionist, finding whatever she was probably going to say unimportant.

He walked into Jim's office, about to ask a question, when he glanced at his boss and quickly jumped back out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him. He started wide-eyed at the receptionist, wanting to blame her, but all she did was glare, sigh, and turned back to her computer.

He felt his heart race. He tried to blink the image swimming in front of his eyes away. God, it would take him weeks to forget the image. Why the hell would they be doing that inside of an office?! He never even knew that you could even get in that position with a stomach that big.

He collapsed into a chair and dropped his head in his hands. There was a loud moan from the closed office and Tyler moved his hands over his ears. The sniper felt a tap on his shoulder and was handed a pair of earplugs from the secretary. He thanked her before realizing that she was already wearing a pair. He quickly put them in his ears as another pornographic moan rung out, and leaned his head against the wall. He shut his eyes, trying to imagine anything else instead of his boss going at it in the office not five feet away from him.

He'd never be able to look at the office the same way again.

###### 

Tyler was awaken by a strange feeling of being watched. He cracked open one of his eyes and found Sebastian staring daggers at him.

"Congratulations. You have now perfected the art of staring someone awake. We should get you a plaque," Tyler said sarcastically. He stretched his arms and tried to work the kink out of his neck.

He opened his other eye and took a proper look at Sebastian. Anyone could now clearly tell Sebastian was pregnant. He held his back [and Tyler could understand why; Sebastian couldn't have been comfortable in that type of position in his state] which only furthered showed his obvious bump. His army green paternity shirt hung loosely around his stomach, but he could still tell the jean-sweat's band came up to hug the middle of his abdomen. He used his free hand to lightly caress the top of his stomach.

"Jim wants to see you," Sebastian told him, angrily; he probably wasn't happy that Tyler had disturbed their little hump-fest in the office.

Tyler ignored his instruction and brought his eyes to look up at Sebastian's.

"My, my! You have grown substantially. Do you plan to continue to let yourself go?"

Sebastian frowned, caught off guard by the remark before scowling. "I don't see how it's in your best interest to comment on my current state. Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I won't kick the crap out of you," he expressed, angrily.

"Of course not. You'll probably cry and go tell Jim that the big bad sniper outside said mean things to you," he said in a mock-whine pout. "I must admit, I'm impressed you can even get in that position and take it up the ass; with that large globe sticking out of you and all."

"Do you think that me being with child means I'll take shit from you? I'll gut you ten seconds flat if given the chance."

"Shame.." Tyler feigned being bored by looking at his fingernails. They desperately needed a file and a good washing. All that blood had stained them red. "I remember when the _GREAT_ Sebastian Moran could do it in five... He must be losing his touch." he sharply looked at Sebastian. Wouldn't it be entertaining to see him cry?

Sebastian had curled up his hands to fist, trying not to punch this guy; though, he'd love to see a nice darkened eye and know who had put him in place.

"Are you angry because he doesn't pay attention to you? Because you know that he'll never notice your 'talents'? How you're a temporary sniper; always overshadowed by the one man who in five months time will come and steal your job from right under your nose?"

Tyler leapt up out of his seat and stood nose to nose with Sebastian. "You actually believe to are going to take MY job?!" he balled up his own hands, wondering how many punches he could get in before one of the burly guards could pull him off of him. "Just because I didn't become my boss's fuck toy to keep myself at the top-"

Sebastian grabbed him by the shirt collar and quickly put a knife blade in between his lips. Tyler had to admit...he was shocked that Sebastian was able to carry a knife that size without it being seen. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't carve your face in right now," he said, low and threatening.

Though the knife made it harder, Tyler smiled. He ran his tongue along the blade until it bled and stuck it out at Moran, knowing his sensitivity to blood. He reveled in the sight of Sebastian swallowing thickly, but Sebastian wouldn't give up that easily. He was going to go for the kill.

"You say I'm going to lose my job after this little demon spawn is born," he sneered, having to speak around the blade, "but you've been living in a fantasy. You're just-"

"Tyler..." a threatening voice interrupted his speech. Neither Sebastian nor Tyler took their eyes off of each other; both trying to communicate to one another. Jim walked a few feet closer, but stopped a good distance away from them.

"Let him go, Sebastian. He's not your problem to deal with."

Sebastian slowly started to loosen his grip and took the blade out of his mouth, causing Tyler to smile wider. "Always have to do what daddy says, don't you Sebastian?" he pouted at him. "I guess as his royal bitch, you have to do anything you can to stay at the top," he sneered quietly, so only Sebastian could hear.

Sebastian tightened his hold again and Jim intervened before Sebastian could do anything.

"Sebastian..." Jim said, a warning clear in his voice.

Sebastian sighed and roughly pushed Tyler against the wall. He waited until Tyler straightened up before decking him in the face, causing him to collapse to the floor. He smirked as Tyler held his nose and whined like he was five years old. "This isn't over, Tyler," he said his name as if he were literally smearing in the dirt.

Tyler glared up at him as blood started pouring down his nose. Jim gently, but forcefully, grabbed Sebastian's arm and lead him down the hall. Not that he'd care, but the janitors would be pissed if they had to clean up blood and vomit.

When they reached the elevators, Jim let go of Sebastian's arm and pressed the descend button.

"Look, I know Tyler's a prick sometimes, but you can't go around punching him every time he says something obnoxious. He's just trying to rile you up because he knows he can."

Sebastian sighed. "I guess. I can't wait to never see his face when I come back to work. Put that guy back in his place." Sebastian smiled at the thought, not noticing a look pass Jim's face.

The elevator door opened and Sebastian stepped inside. The doors were about to close, when he remembered he still had something to say to Jim and stuck his hand in between them to stop them from closing. "You are coming to my appointment tomorrow, right?" he asked, insecure.

"You told me I have to," Jim said fondly.

Sebastian brightened at the words and pecked Jim on the cheek before stepping back into the elevator and allowing the doors to close.

###### 

Jim came storming into his office, pissed off his head.

"What the hell was that about?!" Jim yelled at his sniper.

Tyler looked at his boss while holding his nose. He had gotten the bleeding under control, but had to tape up it up to keep it straight.

"Me? That little bitch broke my nose!"

"You deserve it and you know it! What the hell was going through your head?" he seethed.

"Oh come on, Jim! Can you not see what this guy is doing to you? I haven't had a decent hit in two weeks since he barged into this office. Even the others under your 'rule' think you're getting a little soft for this dude. He's bad news for you Jim! And the day that child is born, you're going to lose everything you've worked your life for."

"Tyler, Sebastian is no longer your rival. Get over this one-sided feud you have! He cannot replace you, I can!"

"So, you haven't told the little-"

"Watch it!" Jim warned. Tyler saw something deadly in his eyes and decided it was best to change his word choice.

"Sissy? Is that better? Alright, you haven't told him of his new job as baby-sitter?"

Jim's angry face quickly shifted to one of contemplation before scowling. "He doesn't need to know. I'll tell him after the baby's born and it's the right time. I don't need him upset. It's not good for his condition."

"Do you hear yourself, Jim-"

"I am not your buddy, I am your boss! And as your boss, I do not give you the right to call me anything but that."

"Of course not! But your fuck buddy, lover, whatever you want to call him," he said, waving his hand in the air as if to bat way the feeling of anger radiating off his boss, "is clouding your mind of what's really important! Face it boss, you're going to have to make a decision. You're constantly baby this and Sebby that! Soon, your work is going to be affected as well. You always said that once you grew a heart, everything you've worked for will be wasted into nothing. One part of it already has...are you really going to sacrifice the rest for _that_ guy?"

Jim turned away from Tyler; a small part of him knew that he was right. But, Sebastian had gone over all of these lingering fears with him. He didn't need this nobody telling him how his life was going to turn out.

"Tyler," he said, calmly. He sat his chair and laid his ankle on his knee. "If you or any other person believes that I cannot continue to run my business at top-notch condition, as I have done for decades now, I give them the next..." he took a bored look at his watch, raising his eyebrow as he thought of a time limit, "thirteen minutes to leave my employment without any consequences to them. Until then, you are dismissed. If you decide to stay, I will expect you here at 04:30. Seems like someone needs to go through some more training to know a sniper's place in this business."

"Boss..."

"Good-bye, Tyler." He swiveled his chair until he was facing his wall instead of the sniper. He waited until he heard footsteps and the door open and shut before letting out a sigh. He pressed his fingertips together and laid them lazily on his stomach. How did things get so out of control? He knew he hadn't allowed his work to suffer; he had made sure of that.  
So this problem was about Tyler. He needed to do something about him and fast. If he allowed this thing between Sebastian and Tyler to simmer, someone was bound to boil over and the end result would not be pretty.


	13. About Those Suits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim and Sebastian find out the sex of their child. At least 99% of you will guess correctly. There's no twist or anything- now or later on.

###### 

Sebastian smiled contently as he held Jim's hand in the waiting room of the clinic. He glanced at Jim, who looked like a perfect picture of bored, and gave his hand a squeeze.

"What's up with you, Jim? Is it that boring to see your child?" he asked, sarcastically.

"Nothing, Sebastian," he said, leaning his head into his hand on the armrest. He looked out of the corner of his eyes to look at Sebastian. "Why? Am I boring you?"

Sebastian's smile turned into a frown. "No, it's just that, you've been acting...like...you've been thinking a lot, lately. Won't you tell me what's so important?"

Jim sighed. "Really, Sebastian, it's just something I'm thinking over from work."

"Is it something that stupid temp said? You know it's not true." He brought the back of Jim's hand to his lips. "I still don't know why you won't allow me to shoot him. For a baby present, can I shoot him...? Please? You won't even have to wrap him or anything."

Jim allowed a genuine smile to grace his lips. He seemed to be doing that a lot around his lover recently.

"Maybe later, tiger. You've done enough damage to him as it is. I wouldn't want to go through the interview process all over again."

Sebastian chuckled and saw the familiar nurse make her way over. Jim stood and lent a hand to Sebastian as he struggled to get up. Sebastian grabbed his lower back and Jim made sure he didn't tip.

"Really, Sebastian, are you actually thinking about returning to work [so soon] after the birth? You're supposed to grow another fifteen to twenty pounds by the end of this, aren't you?"

Sebastian straightened up and started to follow the nurse. "I already told you Jim, nothing is going to change in our lives. If that means I have to go on a crazy diet to get back to my original weight, then I will. My job is as important to me as yours is to you."

Jim sighed, defeated, and followed behind him. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the clinic doctor opening the door and ushering them into the room. He was shown a chair and watched to make sure Sebastian got on the table without injury.

"How are you today?" Rick asked Sebastian. He cautiously turned toward Jim, not used to seeing him personally. "Jim, it's a surprise to see you here."

Jim gave a stiff nod and looked at Sebastian. "I was told I had to come or I wouldn't know the sex of our child."

"It was punishment for last time," he defended.

"Well, first things first. Sebastian, how have you been feeling for the past month?"

"Good...sometimes I feel like a ten pound brick is sitting on my spine and have to piss every hour, but the usual."

"Hm...and the eating? You have continued to gain weight at a healthy level?"

"Yes. Always hungry though. Cravings are still...unusual-"

"Very unusual." Jim chimed in. "How anyone could get to the point of dipping cheese in ketchup? I swear..."

"You know, Mr. Moriarty, some people crave things their body are deficient in it. So the ketchup and cheese could be a sign of not enough calcium or a product in both. You could take solstice in the fact most craving are short and intense. There may actually be only one reoccurring craving."

"I guess," he sighed. He saw Sebastian slightly-sad-but-mostly-confused look and smiled up at him. "There's nothing wrong with you. Just...being conversational," he lied to ease Sebastian hurt.

Sebastian remained skeptical but decided to let it go. He turned back to the doctor. He's been through enough of these to know the basics is all the professional wants to know. He tries to go through this process quickly, feeling Jim's boredom growing substantially by the second. He knows that Jim is only interested in the ultrasound part of the appointment. The sooner they could skip to it, the better attitude Jim will be in.

"Now, I know last time that you said you want to know the sex, but I want to know if your sure. A lot of those who wait usually change their mind-"

"No, we definitely want to know... I will not take any more waiting," Jim intervened.

Sebastian sighed and brought his hand to his face. "Jim...Please calm down. I know you're anxious, but seriously. Your pissing me off."

Even though Jim had a look of nonchalance, Sebastian knew Jim had listened to his words.

Sebastian laid back on the padded table and lifted his shirt. "I've made up my mind, Doc. I-we-want to see of were having a girl or a boy."

The doctor nodded, not wanting to say something that could potentially cause an argument. He took out his equipment and went through the familiar process of the gel and the remote. He could also feeling Jim's boredom.

He searched around the surface of his stomach before a clear side view of their child appeared. Like every time, though Sebastian wouldn't like to admit, it took his breath away. He looked at Jim from the corner of his eye and was happy with what he saw. Jim stared wide-eyed, breath caught in his throat, as he viewed the grainy photo that appeared.

Sebastian reached for Jim's hand and places it lightly on the side of his abdomen. The response he gotten not only surprised him, but Jim too. They watched on the screen as the baby moved around and hit the side of Sebastian's stomach hard enough to where Jim could feel it too.

Sebastian would swear he had heard Jim gasp, but it was a tiny slip of self control that was quickly covered up.

Jim cleared his throat. He made sure his voice could show no emotion before speaking.

"And it's healthy?" he asked quietly, mesmerized by the screen.

"Yes, he does seem to be very healthy."

The rest of Jim's perfectly schooled mask slipped off entirely as his emotions hit him like a ton of bricks. He gasped loudly and stood up, knocking the chair he was sitting in back. He started to pace the small confounds of the room, ignoring the stares he received from the other two people in it. He pulled at his hair and murmured small words to himself under his breath.

The doctor shot a look of concern at Sebastian, wondering if he should do something. Sebastian gave a minute shrug and shook his head. He knew Jim would calm down eventually. This was all new to Jim as it was the first time Sebastian had seen their child on the screen. Jim just needed to process it in his own way; hence, pacing and hair pulling.

A few paces later, Jim suddenly stopped and ran his fingers through his ruffed-up hair. He pulled and straightened his suit before calmly turning around and picking up the chair before sitting in it.

He took Sebastian's hand again and smiled. "You know what this means, don't you?"

Sebastian stared at Jim, confused. He gave a small shake of his head.

"This means...we don't have to specially tailor the suits our boy is going to wear."


	14. Shit Just Hit The Fan!

###### 

22 weeks

Sebastian walked through the halls, looking for Jim. His secretary had told Sebastian that he was viewing some training, but didn't specify what room he'd be in. What was one to do when one didn't know what room their lover was currently in?

Open every door they come up to, of course.

Sebastian came to his fifth door hoping this would be the one. The first two were alright, as in there was no visible signs of torture yet, but the last two almost made him wretch at the amount of blood and body parts covering every surface of the room. If he didn't find Jim soon...

He swung open the door without knocking and was greeted by the sight of Tyler standing over a bruised and slightly bloodied man; whom seemed familiar to Sebastian. Tyler, who had chosen the cat of nine tails, pointed the instrument at Sebastian.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he sneered. His nose was still in a splint from Sebastian's punch a couple of weeks ago.

"Where's Jim?" Sebastian asked, smirking at Tyler's nose.

"I'm too busy to deal with your inane questions right now." He turned back towards his captive, who was firmly tied down to a chair in the middle of the concrete room. He put on his best intimidating face and glared at the man.

"Where is it, Charles?" he demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the man panted. Sebastian suspected that his lung might have been punctured by the way he had been continually panting since he had opened the door. Then again, he couldn't really tell how long he had been tortured. Not too long, he guessed, looking at the lack of blood surrounding him.

"Yes, you do!" Tyler raised the whip high. "Now quit wasting my time and TELL ME!"

"Hello..." Sebastian interrupted and sounded irritated. "Where's Jim? If you tell me, I could be out of your hair quickly instead of you ignoring me and pissing me off!"

Tyler shot a dirty glare at Sebastian. Of course he knew where Jim was, but he'd be damned if he would allow Jim to be distracted from viewing his new sniper's handy and efficient work.

"Piss off! I have _work_ to do."

He turned back to the man who was now staring at Sebastian

"Sebastian, is that you?" Despite the pain and labored breathing, he smiled at him."Who the fuck did you get knocked up by?" the man chuckled, showing his yellow and rotting teeth. "Wow, who would have thought you'd allow someone to lay you on your back. It's a little...disarming..." He shrugged to the best of his ability and looked away, seeming bored of him.

Something snapped in Sebastian's mind. There was no way in fucking hell he was going to be insulted by this two-bit low life and this pretend sniper.

Sebastian gritted his teeth as he calmly walked into the room. He walked over to the table that held all of the 'instruments' and chose the only hand gun that sat there. He also grabbed a plastic surgeon's apron and slowly put that on around his front.

Without warning, he quickly turned around and shoved the barrel into the captive's mouth, chipping a few teeth from the force of it. Tyler stood stunned, rooted in place, unable to even protest.

"I swear... If you don't tell me what Jim wants to find out...," he said, dropping his voice to a threatening tone, "I'll show you what 'disarming' can look like."

The man's eyes widened at the sudden change in Sebastian's demeanor. He waited till his brain got over its initial shock before quickly giving him the desired reply. Sebastian slowly smiled and patted the man on the head.

"Good boy. Now..." Without warning, he pulled the trigger and was instantly painted with the criminal's brain matter. Tyler was brought out of his shock when he felt the warm blood started to seep into his clothes.

"What the FUCK WAS THAT FOR?"

"What?" Sebastian asked, confused. He peeled off his apron and looked at Tyler. "You got your answer and I will finally get mine. Where's Jim?"

"You fucking little..."

Jim watched on the other side of the one-sided glass as the two snipers waged a verbal war at each other. He had to admit that it was pretty encouraging and damn sexy Sebastian still remembered everything he had been taught. Though, right now, he thought it was best to get Sebastian out of here as quickly as possible before anyone else noticed him.

He brought one hand up to his face, shutting his eyes and sighing, before knocking in the glass. He opened them and found two faces trying to see him through the mirror. One face quickly lit up at the sound while the other one glared bitterly at the other. It was so intense, he was shocked Sebastian hadn't suffocated from the weight of it.

Sebastian quickly walked out from the other room and into the one Jim was in.

"Was that really necessary? You know how Tyler gets when you steal his spotlight." Jim sighed again.

Sebastian ignored him and gently placed a kiss on his lover's forehead before loosely wrapping his arms around his neck to bring them as close as possible. This wasn't very close, considering his stomach added an extra few inches between them.

Jim did a quick scan of the room and made sure they were truly alone. His attention was brought back to Sebastian when he felt something continually kicking him in his chest.

"Fetus seems really active today."

"Yeah, the little bugger won't stop kicking me recently," he said, fondly, and lightly rubbed his stomach. "How is work? I can't wait to comeback and show everyone who thought they could make fun of me that they should have thought twice. Are you almost done?"

Jim sighed and unlinked Sebastian's arms from around his neck. "Sebastian, I will be home when my work is done. You know you really shouldn't be here," he lightly scolded. "Go home and I'll be there as soon as I can."

Sebastian frowned and sadly dropped his arms from Jim's light grasp. He slowly nodded and started to turn towards the door when he felt Jim's hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not mad at you. I just...you know work is work and home is home. I can't let you be here and be able to concentrate on work or vice versa. It's best to keep them separate."

Sebastian nodded and allowed a corner of his lip to twitch up. "I know, Jim. I'm sorry."

He turned back around to walk towards the door when he felt a hand grope his ass. He chuckled and continued out the door as if he hadn't felt anything out of the ordinary.

###### 

As he made his way towards the front, he felt the baby kick (or sit) on his bladder causing him to have to go to the bathroom. He quickly made his way to the nearest one to use.

As he washed his hands to leave, the door behind him opened and in stepped a very angry Tyler.

Sebastian took a deep breath. "Can I help you, Tyler?"

"You..." he said and pointed an accusatory finger at Sebastian. "I am so done with putting up with all your shit! You always have to show up and fucking ruin everything! Then, the boss has to come save your ass from me before I fucking tear you apart."

"At least get your facts straight before wasting my time. I don't need anyone saving my ass. Especially Jim. If anything, he comes to save yours from me."

Tyler stepped inside of the bathroom and stood a few feet from Sebastian. They stared at each other for a long minute that seemed to be stifling.

"Well," Sebastian said when he became sure nothing was going to come from this. "I think I'll be going now... Have fun living in my shadow until I return." He walked past Tyler and reached for the door when he heard the safety being clicked off of a gun.

"Don't you fucking walk away from me! You're ruining everything with your fucking presence!"

Sebastian slowly turned around and faced Tyler, who was shaking, trying to contain the anger that was rolling off of him in waves.

"Really, Tyler? You're going to shoot me because you think you'll get into Jim's good books that way? That's a brilliant plan. Shoot me when I'm weak."

"Shut up!" his gun started to quiver, shattering his composure. "A second ago, you wanted to prove you didn't need anyone to protect you. Now you're trying to say you're a fucking defenseless? I use to-" He cut himself off, but he had already given himself away.

Sebastian's eyes widened as he stared at a vulnerable and small Tyler. He didn't feel pity for him; no one felt that way for anyone here. It was an unsaid rule everyone followed and few broke. Sebastian took a deep breath and looked him seriously in the eyes.

"You used to be the one who put me on a pedestal, once, didn't you? You heard all the stories of my past and my triumphs."

Tyler bit his lip, wanting to shake his head but couldn't.

"Then you heard of all the stories of how I raised to the top when Moriarty took me under his wing. Is that what you wanted? To have a story like mine. "

Sebastian felt a low ache set into his lower back. He raised one of his hands to help support his back. Tyler grew suspicious and trained his gun on Sebastian's chest.

"What are you doing?" he calmly demanded.

Sebastian slowly put his hand on the side of his back so Tyler could see where his hands were.

"Have you ever carried a child? Not good on your back."

Sebastian saw a look pass Tyler's face. "You're an omega... You're worried something similar will happen to you," Sebastian explained, suspiciously, trying to figure out everything going through Tyler's mind as he spoke.

"Just because you want to have a life like mine, you do know the same things that have happened to me doesn't necessarily mean they will happen to you." Sebastian sighed at the stupidity of it all.

"You don't know that! If he isn't going to give you your job back, what am I supposed to think if something like that happened to me?! Does that mean I wouldn't be able to get the job I worked so hard for back? Tell me, which would you choose? A lifelong dream? Or a burden?!"

Sebastian winced at the familiar nickname. "What do you mean? Oh course I'm getting my job back after the baby's-"

"No!" Tyler interrupted. "He's been lying straight to your face! Of course he's not going to give you your job back! You always want to prance around here and act like everything you left behind is going to return to you. You ignorant bastard! Your new job is going to be a 'glorified caretaker'!

"How can I possibly move higher if you keep showing up! Just because you're having the boss's fucking kid...he wants to be nice to you... and act differently to you...yet he LIES through his FUCKING teeth. You swallow all of the shit he spews into your ears because you think he loves you?" Tyler asked incredibly. "If this is where greatness gets you, it's time to change the fucking rules!" He pointed the gun to Sebastian's stomach. "First, we have to change Jim back to his old, heartless ways."

Sebastian felt his heart stop. He had never felt fear for another human being- except his lover,- but seeing the gun trained on his innocent unborn child, he felt as if his whole world was about to shift.

Sebastian heard the door open behind him but didn't dare to turn around.

"Sebastian, are you-"

###### 

Jim entered the facilities, concerned when he had gotten no notice of Sebastian having left the building. What he saw first confused him, but when he started picking apart all of the little tells, it made him furious.

"Do not tell me you have decided to shoot Sebastian. This will make me very angry, Tyler."

"You've changed, Jim," he answered, his voice wobbling. "Others have notice. I'm the only one that knows the real reason. So, I plan to fix it and not drag anyone down with me."

"Tyler," Jim sighed as if this was boring him. "You always try to get my praise and attention. Isn't this the wrong way to get it?" he walked over to Tyler and stood facing him, his back to Sebastian. He lowered his voice and spoke, "I do not need a underling of mine telling me how my life is going to be affected by my choices. You do not go about trying to play God to steer me in the direction you see fit. If I would have done that ages ago, you would not BE. _HERE_. NOW!"

He stared Tyler dead in the eyes and saw him visibly swallow. "I..." he tried.

Jim put his hand on the end of the barrel and slowly pressed down on it, signaling to Tyler to lower it. Tyler at first complied, but them looked at Jim trying to find something.

Whatever he was searching for, he must not have found. "This...this isn't going to work...I'm a dead man anyway, right? For threatening your lover?"

Jim eyed him suspiciously, knowing Tyler was a loaded gun that was bound to go off if someone didn't do something.

"This is all his fault..." his voice wavered, dangerously. "This is all _HIS_ FAULT!" he yelled, punctuating each word by stabbing the air with the gun and pointing back on Sebastian. "It will all be better if he WASN'T HERE!"

"NO!" Jim yelled and tried to smack the gun out of Tyler's hand. A single shot rang out before Jim could tackle him to the ground. He struggled with Tyler, getting a grip on his neck. He heard Sebastian gasp before another shot rang out. The body beneath his hands became limp as a dark pool of blood poured out of gunshot wound in Tyler's temple. The use-to-be-sniper lay, dead, staring up at nothing as the life drained out of him.

Jim turned around and stumbled over to Sebastian. He stood on one knee, his other knee bent as he seemed to struggle for air, unable to get up. His gun laid at his feet, still hot from the recent fire.

"Sebastian! Sebastian, tell me where you're hurt."

Sebastian tried to wave a worried Jim off so he could breath, but Jim seemed to want to cling to him.

"No where. It's just a flesh wound," Sebastian panted.

"WHERE WERE YOU _HIT_ , SEBASTIAN?!"

Sebastian moved his forearm in front of Jim to allow him to see his wound. He gritted his teeth as Jim pressed it lightly to see if it was truly shallow.

Sebastian felt a sharp pain shoot through his abdomen. His grunt made Jim snap his eyes to his face as it contorted into a mix of pain and confusion.

"I think that..." He gasped as another sharp stab of pain stabbed his gut. "I think that I need to...go to the hospital."

Jim's eyes grew wide as he saw Sebastian grab for his stomach. The usually calm and serene sniper seemed lost as the unidentified pain continued to ripple through his spine and stomach.

A janitor for the building walked in and stopped when he saw the view in front of him.

"Don't just stand there! Go get a stretcher and go to the front desk to notify the clinic doctor that Sebastian Moran is coming and that this it is an emergency," he stated calmly but with someone who was used to authoritative tones. When the janitor didn't do anything, Jim snapped at him.

"Now!"

Jim turned back to Sebastian as the janitor skimpered out of the restroom.

"Jim, why the clinic?" the sniper panted out as Jim carefully helped him up.

"It's closer and he has the correct equipment to see if you to go to the hospital. Don't worry Sebastian, everything will be fine. Just, relax..."

Jim continued murmuring soothing words until Sebastian was put on a stretcher and taken away.


	15. This is our Downfall

###### 

Sebastian laid in bed a few days after being released from the hospital with a few problems swirling around in his head. He was relieved that the baby was fine; it was just a little distressed from the sudden drop of Sebastian getting to his knee after being shot. Carefully shifting the baby with precise, doctored hands, Rick had allowed the baby to get off his umbilical cord and help him get more air.

He ran a hand through his short blond hair and sighed. He needed to stay off his feet at least a week and, even after that, he wasn't allowed to do much. Though he wasn't happy with the advice, he had a bigger problem to think through.

Jim had been lying to him for months; and it had taken a crazy man to learn the truth of it. Five months he had been lied to and deceived! How the hell was he to let that go easily?

Jim had tried to explain to him while they rode over to the clinic, but with everyone transporting him trying to work around him and ask him questions, not much had reached his ears. Then again, he probably also didn't want to hear the excuses coming out of Jim's mouth anyway.

He sighed and heard a knock on his door. He allowed whoever it was to enter and slowly started to sit up.

"Ready to go, Mr. Moran?" asked one of the drivers Jim specially hired to take Sebastian wherever he felt like going. He probably never factored in the probability of Sebastian trying to get away from him.

"Yeah. Get my things by the door."

He slowly rose, careful of his sore back. As he and the driver started to walk towards the door, Jim walked into the flat. His look of worry quickly warped into anger and confusion (never a good combination when dealing with Jim) as he saw the bags.

"Where are you going, Sebastian?" he asked calmly. Jim was never one for asking stupid questions he has already figured out the answer to.

"Away, Jim. As you can clearly see."

He saw him grit his teeth before speaking. "Why?" Jim said, letting the words come out harshly.

They stared at each other, Jim obviously trying to plead with him. Sebastian wouldn't have any of it and turned to the driver.

"The car!" He didn't mean it to be so harsh, but everything was pissing off right now. The driver quickly went to the car with the bags and Sebastian turned back to Jim.

"Seb, why are you leaving?"

"Don't play ignorant. You've been lying to me for months! Five months you have been looking me into the eyes and listening to me go on and on and on about finally coming back to work, and not once have you told me that you weren't planning on allowing me to come back! Fucking stay-at-home-dad? No fucking way! Just tell me, why? Why am I not allowed to come back?"

Jim stared at Sebastian but made no move toward explaining his actions. A realization dawned on Sebastian, which just pissed him off more.

"This is about the work, isn't it?"

Jim's eyes slightly widened, but he didn't agree or disagree.

"Say something, damn it!" Sebastian shouted at him.

"What do you want me to say?! That this is partially about you and the work. I expect our child to be top notch and for that to happen, a stable parent needs to be present to ensure that they do everything possible to make sure they become intelligent and loved. Do you really believe that I am that parent? I'm not the one birthing it! It will need you to feed it, wash it, clothe it, teach it. I mean, I can do some of that stuff too, but I have take care of a empire as well. You will not be useful to me with a crying and screaming baby at home. I need a sniper who can function at their best. I cannot expect that from you when our child should be your top priority instead!"

"Don't try and say your decision was primarily based on me. We both know that's not true. You have probably have been planning all this based on work!"

"And what would happen if something would happen to you?" Jim asked more quietly. "Do you actually believe that I can care for a child by myself? The one thing I'm incompetent in. I guess I do have some normality, don't I?" He sighed and looked away from Seb.

Sebastian knew this was hard for Jim to admit, but Sebastian was too pissed off. They weren't on the same page. They had never been on the same page! Sebastian had been happy to have a child to share with his lover for the rest of their lives. Jim had been happy to have someone incubate and take care of a child that he will make take his place once he is unable to.

"Excuse me, Jim," Sebastian said, tensely, and started to step round him. Jim reached out, first to touch Sebastian's stomach, only to quickly decide against it. He quickly re-routed for Sebastian's forearm instead, but Sebastian quickly flinched away like Jim was a diseased man.

"Don't you think you have the right to fucking touch me!"

"This child is partially mine, Sebastian!" he said, anger lacing his voice as he started to shut himself off.

"You don't have the right to try to act like you suddenly you give a shit about this child. I had been the one who decided that I wanted to keep this child. I have been making sure I've eaten right... I've been making sure I'm not over-stressing myself..." he said, counting on his fingers. "What have you done? Come to only one of my few appointments and try to lock me away from society." His voice had lowered as he had invaded Jim's personal space. "I think I've put in the time and effort to be able to say that I care about this is child."

He took a step back and glared at Jim. He opened the door when he heard Jim again.

"Sebastian Moran! I swear, if you don't-" He was cut off by the door slamming shut. He heard the car pull away from the curb a few seconds later and was surrounded by silence.

###### 

Jim stood in the middle of the room, staring out the door his lover, and ultimately his child, had just left out of. He didn't know how long he stood there, but noticed the sun had set hours before. He took a sharp intake of breath, feeling all of his senses and emotions flood his system.

He knew, he knew that agreeing to have this child would come back to bite him in the ass. This child wasn't good news from the start! He should have gotten out when he had the chance, but no! He accepted it and now look at where this left him!

He kicked over a coffee table and stomped on it until it broke and splintered.

He had no sniper!

He chain-sawed the chairs in half.

No lover!

He stabbed and shredded the furniture (which he noticed looked newly replaced recently).

A semi-neglected empire!

He torched the kitchen table.

And this stupid little shit of a child had made itself a little nook next to his father's in Jim's heart!

Jim ran to the cupboard where Sebastian locked his guns. Jim knew that if Sebastian was trying to get away and forget all about Jim, he would leave the one possession he prized so dearly. The one that Jim had presented to him specially. The only one in the world. The one that constantly reminded him Jim did, in fact, love him; no matter if he stated the contrary.

Jim quickly unlocked The cupboard and took out the black titanium case. He keyed in the code before taking out the beautiful, light-weight steel long range rifle and took it up into his lab. He stood over a vat of acid and held the gun over it, knowing this was the final straw. This was deleting Sebastian and their child. This was all the memories and time spent together. This was the knowledge that someone out there did love him and all of his kooky ways; even willing to have his child. This was forgetting the best parts of this life. This was forgetting the only part of this life that he truly cared about.

Where did this leave him?

Jim snarled before the his mask slipped and he hugged the gun to his chest. His lower lip started to wobble and he quickly bit it and shut his eyes. He wasn't a fucking crier, and he damn well wasn't going to start because his life had just walked out of the door. He made his way into his room and cocooned himself in all the blankets on his bed; Sebastian's gun lying next to him.

'Where did this leave him?' He thought again.

He sighed and shut his eyes; trying to forget about his aching chest at Sebastian's absence.

This left him totally alone.


	16. The Stalemate

###### 

26 weeks

Sebastian groaned as aches and pains ravaged his body. Brian came in with a cup of tea and set it on the coffee table Sebastian had his swollen feet propped up on.

It seemed that everything had started to hurt. His back constantly ached, his pelvis was expanding, and he swore this baby weighed a ton. His flat, sleek stomach had turned from an inny to an outy and he felt uncomfortable in his skin as his abdomen stretched out. He couldn't bend over and he felt like he couldn't breathe. God, he wanted this child to be out soon.

"Are you feeling any better?"

Sebastian quickly shook his head. "It's just...supposed to last a little...while," he said, as he shifted to try to get more comfortable. "Doctor said it's just my...body morphing to accommodate the child. I should only complain if this much pain persist more than a week." He sighed and moved his feet on the couch to lay down. He felt a gurgling in his stomach and a minute kick.

"I know, I know. I'm just too tired to do anything because of you." Sebastian heard another gurgle and felt another kick. Sighing harshly, he turned to Brian and pouted.

"Brian..." he said, lightly drawing lines on his stomach.

Brian sighed. "I know, I know. Baby's hungry." He stood up and looked down at Sebastian's large protruding stomach. "But we really know it's just you and your dad trying to eat me out of house and home."

He lightly settled his hand on his stomach before making his way back into the kitchen.

The baby kicked Sebastian in the bladder and, suddenly, he needed to go to the bathroom right now.

"Little bugger. Can't I have a break?" he moved his legs off of the couch and slowly stood up. His vision blurred and he shut his eyes. He felt extremely nauseous and a hand was on his back to steady him. He felt a cup being held up to his face. The smell of tea was potent, causing his senses to become over stimulated and make his head hurt. It made him quickly rush to the bathroom to vomit.

He groaned again and leaned his head against the bowl as sweat coated his brow.

"Should I call-"

"No!" he said, quickly. He winced and shifted a little. "Don't call him. Don't call anybody. I have no one to call. Just...relax. We've faced greater pain in Afghanistan."

Brain looked at Sebastian, wondering if now was the right time to say anything.

"What, Brian?"

"Um, Sebastian. Jim's been...kind of not himself. I think he's going to get serious about searching for you and the first place he's looking for..."

"Is here," Sebastian finished off, quietly.

"Yeah. I really don't want to do this...make you leave and be alone with everything that's happening, but since you've been living here for the past month... Just, a few days. That's all. I promise."

"No."

"What?"

"No. You've been helping and housing me for the last month. I need to be on my own. I need to not depend on others; especially if someone is going to depend in me soon. The only reason I'm still here is because Jim either knows and wants me to be, or he's already moved on. The fact that he's threatening you shows that he doesn't want me to be here anymore."

"I doubt that."

"He's trying to get me to crawl back to him and beg him to take me back. I rather show him that I can stand alone without him."

He made to stand up but struggled with the pain in his pelvis and groaned. Brian helped him to stand and help him to the sink so that he could rinse his mouth.

"I think I'll just...move back to my old flat for a while. I know that he'll know I'm there, but at least I can keep him out."

"I really don't think that you should be alone when you're in this much pain. At least stay with someone-"

"What part of 'I have NO ONE!' can't you understand?" he snapped. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"It's fine. At least...be careful. Find anyone that's not too far away."

Sebastian nodded and made Brian escort him to his spare bedroom. He slowly sunk onto the bed, unwrapping his arm from around Brian's neck after he was firmly situated in a sitting position. He waited until all of his pillows were propped up in the position he liked before slowly falling back onto the bed. He moaned as he laid on his side, alleviating most of the pain. He felt the baby give a content hit and softly rubbed his stomach.

He was extremely tired (like that wasn't unusual) and hungry, but he'd be damned if he was going to get up from this position. He yawned as the lights were shut off and was given a small "goodnight" before falling asleep.

###### 

Jim was awaken by a stack of nude-colored folders being dropped on his desk. He glared at his secretary, but she was unfazed by it after so many years.

"Just go home, Jim. You can't keep falling asleep here because you want to avoid going back to your flat." She sighed.

"I thought I was the one making the rules around here." he tried to roll the link out of his neck. "I pay for it. I think I should be able took the decision on how I run it."

He beckoned her to come around the desk. She rolled her eyes and went to sit in his lap.

"Why don't you want me here?" he asked as he nuzzled the back of her neck. "All I want is some comfort...is that too much to ask for?" he asked, sniffing her long red hair.

"Ug, Jim. Stop."

He turned her head so she could look into his eyes. "What is it?!" he demanded.

"What is it?! Jim! You fucking broke your pregnant lover's heart and you think you need some comfort?!"

"What am I supposed to do about it!" he snarled and roughly pushed her to her feet.

"You are supposed to go and get his fucking ass back instead of trying to act like the fucking martyr.

"When I went your flat and found you lying in a mountain of couch fluff, I understood that it was just you allowing your anger out. Now... your just being self-destructive. "

"When have I ever not been self-destructive, my dear?"

She rolled her eyes. "Stop it. I'll be dead in two seconds flat if Sebastian heard that. Unlike you, I'm terrified of him."

"Yet, you're taking his side." He gritted his teeth.

"He's the one who's right in this case! Your lies put him in fucking danger! You risked the life of your child! What the fuck were you thinking?!"

Jim sighed and rolled his eyes. "What is with beta women always taking the side of pregnant omegas? Goodness. So annoying."

"Jim..." she warned through her teeth. "I'm trying to help you, but I you want to just continue to piss people off, then maybe...maybe he had a good reason to leave."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. They needed to be said, but may be when things weren't so heated.

She saw Jim's face of nonchalance quickly turn into a look of a rabid dog. One that she wasn't used to; which said a lot, since she has pretty much seen all of them throughout her employment. A shiver ran down her back but she met the gaze head on.

He was too tired to try to win a stare contest with this stubborn woman, which sent a minute tricking of fear through his body. Jim was never too tired to win anything. He was always one to out-shine others and burn the ones who stood in his way.

He looked at the reflective surface on his desk and couldn't tell if it was really himself that looked back at him. He had lost a lot of weight in the few weeks Sebastian had been gone; he couldn't even remember the last time he had eaten. His eyes had dark shadows under them and were bloodshot. At least he had enough decency to shower and shave.

He leaned his elbows on the table and tried to rub some of the tired look off of his face. Criticizing himself, he quickly took his elbows off of it. Soon, his cool demeanor would suffer too.

"You're afraid that a baby would distract the work, but isn't it also like Sebastian? Partially the work, partially your love life? Can't have one without the other," the secretary's soft voice said, interrupting his thought process.

"What am I supposed to do?"

###### 

Sebastian woke early, not being able to sleep with all the pain that made the already the sniper even more tired.

He tried to be as quiet as he could as he started to pack up all of his stuff. He has forgotten that most of Jim's employees came in early if the need be. He turned around and almost had a heart attack when he saw Brian standing there.

"God, Brian! Almost made me go into labor," he shouted and clutched his stomach. "At least knock or something."

Sebastian saw Brian frown. "Stop it," he scolded. "I'm not randomly going to have a baby because someone scared me. I'm still at least 10 weeks from birthing this little thing." he turned back around to fold up some other clothes, ignoring the ones he dropped at Brian's arrival; he wasn't going to make a fool of himself because he couldn't reach his toes.

Brian picked up the dropped clothes and placed them carefully on the bed. "Why can't I worry about the safety of my friend and his child?"

"I don't need people to pity me! I am perfectly alright without anyone taking care of me! I made it on my own before Jim, I can make my way now!" He threw down the clothes he was folding and turned to stare out the window.

"Sebastian...I-"

"Get out." he turned around and looked at Brian, who stared at him stunned. "Get out!"

Brian understood the look in Sebastian's eyes. He nodded and slowly closed the door.

Sebastian waited until the door was firmly shut closed before sitting back down on the bed. He put his head in his hands and tried to control his breathing. He tried to keep them even and hold back the tears that threatened to be shed. He quickly wiped one that escaped, trying to rationalize that it didn't count if it was just one. It was just one tear. One measly tear. No harm if there's Two tears...three...

Soon Sebastian's cheeks were stained with tear tracks. He couldn't hold any of them back as quiet sobs started to rack his body.

What was he going to do? How is he supposed to care for a child alone? He has no job and a dirty, small flat that barely holds him. How was he supposed to raise his child somewhere like that? He couldn't even take care of himself in that type of environment until Jim came along. The man he had given so many years of his life to; his body to. Now he had absolutely no one he could count on.

Sebastian decided to lay down when he felt himself start to hyperventilate. He felt no more movement from the little one inside.

"What? No comments? Now you don't want to have an input? Don't want to tell me how pathetic you think I am? How your fathers are both fuck-ups?" he asked, aloud. "I don't know what to do." he whispered the last statement quietly, but it was deafening to his ears. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

Stupid hormones.


	17. Trying to Head Towards Reconsiliation

###### 

27 weeks

Jim sat in Sebastian's room, quietly watching as his ex-lover slept. This had become his nightly ritual since his talk with his secretary. They mutually decided that this was the best course of action to start off with. Every night that he didn't have something to do, he would sit in the darkest corner of the room and silently watch the small rise and fall of the sniper's chest and stomach. Sometimes, he felt an urge to go over and demand that Sebastian take him back. Other times, he felt a peaceful urge to lay down next to him and wrap his arms around his sniper and child. Sometimes he'd sit close enough to whispered quietly to the baby. Nothing in particular was off topic when they had these little chats. Sometimes, he talked about his day, or his job, but he always got the most response from the baby when he spoke about Sebastian. It was a topic they were both mutually fond of.

He always had to be careful when he did his little ritual, though. He remembered the first night Sebastian had awaken and almost shot him. Even when Sebastian had figured out that it was Jim intruding, not a common burglar, Sebastian still shot off a few warning shots and demanded that he leave. Jim hadn't learned much from the experience- just that he needed to be more sneaky; and hide all of Sebastian's gun.

Though the first time was probably the worst, Sebastian didn't really seem to mind Jim's presence; at least he completely ignored him. Jim thought of this as an improvement. He wasn't getting shot at anymore.

I'm fact, Sebastian always (secretly) looked for traces of Jim before and after he'd fall asleep. He'd never say or do anything short of admit Jim's presence, but he took comfort that the alpha was close and trying to mend things.

About the third week of these proceedings, Jim decided to kick part two of his plan to get Sebastian back into action. He had fulfilled the part of re-introducing Sebastian to Jim's routine presence. Now, he had to change this stubborn man's mind to give him another change.

###### 

Sebastian woke up when he felt continual tapping coming from the inside of his stomach. He sighed and tried to turn over, but decided to give up when his stomach felt like a ten pound brick and wouldn't cooperate.

"Alright. Alright," he whispered, softly, when he felt more tapping. "I'm going to get up. It's hard to maneuver when you seem to want to weigh more every time I want to stand. I know you're growing, but slow down on the food intake."

He struggled to get up for a few more moments before being able to rock himself into a position he could sit up in. He stood and made his way to the bathroom to use and take a shower in before making his way into the kitchen.

What he saw in the kitchen made him do a double take. Since moving back into his cramped living space, Sebastian's breakfast had mostly consisted of toast and a dairy product. Today, the table was covered almost every breakfast item Sebastian could think of. Eggs, bacon, biscuits, waffles, crepes...

When the initial shock wore off, he became suspicious. Did someone make this here? Surely Jim wouldn't cook. Sebastian would have smelt burning toast and an overdone omelet consisting of egg shells (to give it a crunch, Sebastian!). So, if Jim didn't prepare it, was it someone else. Were they watching him? Was the food poisoned?

He slowly reached into the front door table and pulled out a small revolver as he scanned the room with his eyes. He carefully made his way to the table, gun raised, and looked at the food. He felt Fetus give a kick at the ( he had to admit) delicious looking food. He looked around the room one final time before slowly setting the gun on the table.

Within the middle of the fruit platter, a small note with a smiley face stuck out. Sebastian carefully lifted the card out of its place holder, wary of explosives. When nothing seemed out of the ordinary, he read it and harshly sighed.

'Where is all of your food? You can't possibly be feeding Fetus and yourself a healthy enough meal. I've sent catering staff to cook and send you food. Eat up and save the rest for later meals.'  
-Jim

Sebastian crumpled up the paper and threw it at the wall. Of course Jim would hire catering. Why should Sebastian expect anything less.

He didn't need Jim to provide for him. They were separated. He didn't have anything to do with him or their child. Sebastian was the breadwinner and he would provide for his child all on his own. He won't allow Jim to try to wiggle his way back into Sebastian's heart with food.

Even if the food didlook tasty.

And he wassort of hungry from the lack of nutritious food.

And Jim did tell them to add the one thing he had been craving recently.

Damn it all to hell! Just this once, he'd accept Jim's gift, but no other.

Even though it was kind of sweet Jim cared about them.

No! That kind of thinking was not permitted. It's the kind of thinking that got him in the trouble in the first place. He was going to eat this food, save the rest, and not think about another damn thing Jim might feel towards them.

Even if...

A strong kick brought him out of his internal struggle. "You're right, Fetus," he cooed and softly caresses his abdomen. "I need to stop fighting and start eating."

###### 

"Sir...it has been confirmed that Sebastian has received and enjoyed the present you had sent."

"Good." Jim intertwined his fingers and smirked. Continue on with the rest. One for every day. Make sure he gets enough to eat, enough money to pay for finances, and please, for Pete's sake, move him out of the shit hole. To think he'd think about raising a child there. Really?" he said the last statement more to himself then his assistant.

He smile widened. Great. His plan was working. He'd soon have Sebastian and Fetus back in his arms and, hopefully, in his bed very, very soon.


	18. I Guess I Can Forgive You

###### 

29 weeks

Sebastian walked out of a clinic a few hours later with another ultrasonic picture of thei- his child. Compared to the first shots, the baby looked big. He was stretched out and more active than the first months. Pro: that means he was healthy. Con: Sebastian was going to be continually stretched and punched from the inside out. He seemed to have his father's gene for torture and his other's for strength.

Speaking of the devil… He entered his flat and found the man standing in the middle of his main room. He had his arms folded over his chest and he looked pretty pissed. Good. He should know how he felt.

"You've been seeing a new doctor. Why?"

"I have separated ties with you. I shouldn't be accepting your gifts and I shouldn't be going to see a doctor you pay for."

"Why? I want to take care of you. I've sent you money, I tried to convince you to leave this hell hole of a flat, I've sent you groceries and prepared food... Why won't you accept my help?!"

"I don't need your help! I can do this on my own! I'm not going to spend my days wondering if you're really doing what you say you are and I'm not going to spend my time wishing you'd return. I have to get used to financing and taking care of myself and my child."

Jim winced and scowled. "Sebastian...contrary to your belief, I do care about you and our family. Just...please. Stop pushing me away..." Jim sighed.

Sebastian shifted weight from one foot to the other, trying to get a comfortable stance. He sighed when he couldn't and decided to sit on the couch.

"It's not that I don't...love you," Sebastian forced out. He was afraid that Jim would dismiss the feeling again, but Jim didn't say anything, so he continued. "It's that you have little faith in everything concerning me since...since you've known me. From the beginning, you were afraid-yes, I said you were afraid. Don't interrupt me," Sebastian said quickly to cut Jim off. "You were afraid to let me closer than anyone else you have ever trusted. Now, you think that I'm not going to be as good as a sniper I was after the baby is born. Why don't you have faith me?"

Jim closed his eyes and sighed. He opened them back up and walked over to the couch to sit next to Sebastian and gently held his hand.

"It's...not that I don't have faith in you. It's just that I don't normally do…that, so the shift is hard. We both are stubborn, so you know it's hard to change a habit that seems to be working." He looked into Sebastian's eyes to see if he actually understood. "I can only try, Sebastian. That has to count for something."

Sebastian sighed and rubbed the spot Fetus had kicked. He still debated taking Jim back, but it had to be better than the alternative, right?

He sighed harshly, annoyed with his indecisiveness, but he knew it was best for his soon-to-be family; and he really did love Jim. It was almost impossible to hate the sod for too long.

"I swear, if you pull crap like that ever again-"

He was cut off by Jim putting his arms around Sebastian's neck. He smiled softly at him and pulled him closer into a kiss.

Sebastian tensed slightly, his chest tender from lactating and not expecting Jim to just kiss him out of the blue. Jim was usually not the romantic, lover type. There wasn't usually kissing, and, if there was, it usually was all teeth and domination. Not the sensual, caress Jim was currently displaying.

Sebastian started to kiss Jim back, happy from the normal change of pace. It was great and spontaneous to play rough and having angry sex, but Sebastian wasn't going to be doing that anytime soon. He didn't think Jim even knew how to take it slow. He was so full of surprises.

He felt Jim's hand slide down the pivot of his back and reach down to the bottom of his shirt before slipping his hand underneath to rest his hand on his hip. His lips were pried apart from Jim's tongue as the slow kiss Sebastian had enjoyed started to become heated. The hand under his shirt mapped every dip and curve of Sebastian's back and a low moan escaped from Jim's mouth when he felt the waistband of his paternity pants.

Sebastian usually liked when Jim was willing to engage in some snogging or something a little farther, but everything going on with the pregnancy, it drained him out. His sex drive had plummeted and burned. Nothing, and he meant nothing, could get him in a bed and roll around in it with someone in the condition he was in now. No way, no how.

He gently pushed Jim back and sighed. "Sorry, Jim, but I'm not feeling up to a snog session that could potentially turn into something else. This child has drained me of my sex drive and I constantly hurt everywhere." He pecked Jim's cheek. "Sorry."

Jim smiled at him and nodded. "It's fine, Sebby. I'm not going to make you're not feeling up to."

Sebastian smiled and a happy kick was given from within. "Thanks you, Jim. …We'll continue this discussion and the job situation in a minute. Fetus makes me have to continually piss every three seconds and it seems that my chest has turned into faucets recently." The stood up and walked to the only other room in the flat, shutting the door to his bedroom and leaving Jim alone.

Jim continued to smile after Sebastian had left. Within the confounds of his mind, he was laughing. He knew manipulating Sebastian's thought process wouldn't be very difficult. Though he wasn't totally out of the doghouse, he was considerably closer to restoring the power back into its proper place. Yes, his plan was going very well indeed.


	19. A Piece to the Final Puzzle

###### 

Week 31

Jim looked at the framed photo of Sebastian's last ultrasound on his desk. His lip curled up in a snarl, but no noise came out. He hated how domestic he seemed, even if he knew it would get him back on Sebastian's good side.

He sighed and grabbed his coat before leaving his office. He left a note for his secretary about his major upcoming event and wrote down some information he needed her to find. He was going to set the second stage of the game. Another fuck-over for Holmes and his sidekick. Another piece of the puzzle, until the big picture is revealed.

Until then, he had an appointment with Sebastian. An appointment he found pointless and just a waste of time.

Labor training.

Why anyone would need to prepare for labor, he didn't know. Wouldn't you know you're about to give birth when your water breaks? A hour or two of pushing and your done?

He doesn't get it, but he thinks he's about to find out.

###### 

Why would you even do a thing like that?! You stressed half of those people out!" Sebastian stormed into the flat, pissed at Jim so badly, it wasn't even funny.

"I thought that you were going I'm labor."

"I told you I was having Braxton Hicks contractions! You didn't have to threaten everyone's child! God! I can never show my gave there again."

"Why not? Just apologize for me."

"Apolo- Jim! You potentially caused harm to every unborn child in the whole room and even caused one person to go into labor! I don't think an apology will cut it!"

Sebastian closed his eyes and breathed in as deeply as he could through his nose. His breathing had become a little easier as the weeks progressed, but his chest sometimes did feel weighted down. Especially when he felt stressed. Very, very stressed. Just as stressed as he felt now.

He opened his eyes and waddled over to the closest chair. Yep, he waddled; and he didn't like it one bit. He slowly sank into it, and hummed contently as he felt all the weight shift off his feet and back.

He shot Jim a final glare before letting all of the past half hour's events leave his mind.

"Sebastian," he heard Jim say to him softly. Jim pulled up a chair right next to Sebastian's and sat next to him, placing his hand on his stomach. "I have some very important work I'm going to be doing. I promise I'll try to be around here as much as I can, but this may take a lot of time to set up and complete," he said quickly before Sebastian could protest. "I wanted to let you know that I am...sorry," he said turning the words over on his tongue, "that I won't be here as much as you'd like me to be, but this is very, very important. When this is over, I promise that we can settle down for a few weeks or months. we can do all of the baby...stuff you want to do. Even if it's totally dull."

Sebastian frowned at Jim. Was he really about to start this whole conversation back up? He was supposed to be trying.

He sighed. He did say that they could relax once this final job was over. That wastrying to Jim. He chuckled softly. How he could fall in love with this man, he wasn't sure, but he didn't care too much. He softly smiled at him.

"Alright."

Jim, who had watch Sebastian's facial expressions closely, smiles and kissed Sebastian's forehead when he heard the verdict.

Sebastian put his hand behind Jim's head and brought Jim's lips down towards his.

"Be safe," Sebastian murmured softly. Jim's smile widened and he quickly connected their lips again.

"You got it, tiger." With that, he grabbed his phone and keys before leaving a smiling and content Sebastian.

###### 

For the next few of weeks, Jim was constantly in and out of Sebastian's life. Sometimes he'd stay and talk, sometimes he'd only see Jim for two seconds, and other times he wouldn't see Jim at all; only a quick text or two telling Sebastian that he was alright.

Most of the times Jim did come in, Sebastian would be asleep; partially because of Jim and partially because he pregnancy continued to zap him of his energy. He'd always be awakened by Jim waking up the baby, which, in turn, ended up waking him up by the baby's constant kicking.

"You see, they derive the theorems from graphs for idiots to be able to understand equations also. Don't worry. You won't be one of those people. I'll make sure of that." Jim felt taps from within. "You're welcome."

"Jim, stop that," Sebastian scolded lightly, his voice rough from sleep. He cracked open an eye and saw the red digital clock blinking back at him. "I don't need the baby waking up at 03:57 because you want to tell him about mathematics. I can only sleep when he does."

"How can you tell that he's asleep?" Jim said, awe dripping from his voice.

"Doesn't move so much," he sighed and shut his eye again.

"Your fathers are really intelligent, Fetus," he stated proudly.

"We're going to have to do something about that name soon, Jim." Sebastian shifted around and tried to go back to sleep, but found it as a lost cause with the steady stream of taps and looked at Jim's dark shadow. "He's only going to stay that way for a few weeks longer."

"I know," Jim sighed and turned to lay on his back. " How about Marcello? For the name?"

"No. Basil?"

"Nu uh. Remington?"

Sebastian yawned. "No." He closed his eyes and tried to get comfortable, happy the baby was also seemingly going back to sleep. "Pierce?"

"No way. Xavier."

"No. Something formal but can be shortened like our names," Sebastian mumbled.

"How..." Jim was interrupted by a small snore from Sebastian. He gently settled his hand on his stomach but didn't feel any more kicks. He was left alone with only his mind as company. He sighed and rolled out of bed. He gave Sebastian's forehead a quick peck and pulled the covers up to his chest.

He stared at Sebastian for a moment. His plan was about to go into effect very soon. No matter how many times he planned and covered anything that could go wrong, he couldn't be sure that nothing would happen. He could only account for so much. He just...needed to look at the most sure thing in his life right now and let it burn a mental image in his brain. Seeing his lover and unborn child in such a peaceful state, he remembered he was doing this for them.

He took one final look before leaving. There was no going back now. This had to be done. If not for him, then for his family.


	20. A Little Bit Early, a Lot of Bit Late

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. i'm sorry. i say i'm going to post more and then forget and end up here about a month later. i'm sorry i forgot.

###### 

Week 37

Jim saw the LED lights in the rented warehouse turn on, signaling that it was time to enter. He walked in and saw a stunned consulting detective and an equally stunned army doctor. An evil smile grew on his face and he continued to walk until he was a few feet away from the duo.

"Hello Sherlock, Doctor."

They both turned around to face where Jim was. Sherlock's face was a perfectly schooled mask of expressionless emotions while Dr. Watson's was calm mixed in with a little bit of shock."Jim. To what do we owe the pleasure," Sherlock drawled sarcastically.

Jim slightly chucked which quickly turned into a scowl. "I'm here to give you a warning, Holmes."

"And what's the difference between this one and the last couple of times?"

"I have an important event coming up, so I'll be pretty busy and have full hands. No, no. None of that kind of business," Jim said, answering Sherlock's scowl. "I do actually have a life outside of causing chaos and fucking you over." He grinned at them and looked at John.

"This can happen one of two ways," he held up two fingers to demonstrate. "I can either harm you both bad enough where you're temporarily or permanently harmed and cannot bother me on my hiatus, or you can voluntarily stop trying to knock down my connections here in London and take on small cases until I return."

John and Sherlock looked at each other and then stared back at Jim.

"Come on, gentleman. I don't have all day. I mean, I set up this clever puzzle and rented this nice warehouse to have this little chat. At least give me something."

"How long is this...hiatus?" Sherlock asked, receiving a jab from John's elbow.

"Now, now, John. The man's just curious. No shame in that," he scolded. "Who knows. At least a couple of months. Maybe a little less than a year, but don't worry. You'll be guaranteed that your cooperation would be worth your while."

"Oh come now, Jim. You know that I cannot go long without a clever case that. How are managing your hiatus if it isn't that sort of business?"

Jim smiled but didn't move to explain. "You have two days to decide, boys. If I get no answer, who knows what could happen. I may feel you want to...disappear."

He turned and started to walk towards the exit when he heard Sherlock's voice behind him.

"Sorry, Jim, but I'd hate to tell you that you may not be able to go on hiatus."

Jim stopped and tensed. He turned around and glared at his rival and his flat mate.

"And why the hell not? If I remember correctly, and I do, I'm the one who's making the rules. I… am the master."

"Well, there's been a change in the positions. It's time that kingdom falls. And the first thing to go, must be the king."

There was a loud explosion from both sides of the warehouse. Since they were so close to the blast zone, the force of the aftershock knocked Jim to the floor just as the room started to fill with a thick smoke and bullets rained from unknown places. He covered his head with one hand while he reached for his walkie-talkie and commanded his back up to shoot and send someone to get him out of there.

The smoke irritated his lungs and he started to cough a little. He heard doors bust open and quickly surveyed to see if it was one of his guys. He saw half of his team in the distance and signaled to them where he was. He looked over his shoulder and saw the Baker Street Duo hunched up on each together, trying to protect the other from the constant fire of hot lead through the air. He saluted to them mockingly before calmly walking to the door to meet his team. He kept his head low, hearing bullets rush by him so close, he could hear them hum. He was in within arm's length of one of the teams commanding officers when he saw two of his men get shot down behind him. The officer turned around to look at who got shot, causing him to miss one of the other men sneak up behind Jim with a taser gun.

Jim felt small, sharp wires go though his suit and bury into his skin before 1000 bolts were sent through his body. He blacked out before he hit the ground.

###### 

Sebastian dusted the same piece of furniture for the fifth time that day. Even though Jim's flat seemed clean and new (now that Sebastian's old room was now a nursery), he couldn't escape the feeling that the flat needed to be even more clean.

This nesting period didn't seem so bad, since he had to constantly clean up after Jim anyway. He and Brian had been at this for only an hour, though he had to sit every five minutes.

As he reached up to dust the fan blades, a strange pain ran through his spine and pelvis. It was stronger than a Braxton Hicks, and it caused him to hunch over in pain. He wasn't sure what it was. It could be a number of pregnancy symptoms. He felt another one rip through before feeling a gush and wetness seeping through his pants onto the floor. He looked down, shocked, before calling towards the kitchen.

"BRIAN!"

Sebastian sat down in one of Jim's armchairs and tried to stay calm. He heard his friend hurry out of the kitchen.

"Sebastian! Are you-" He stopped when he saw Sebastian's surrounded by a puddle. Even though his brain registered that he was in labor and needed to call someone, the shock caused him to short-circuit and stare.

"What are you standing around for? You think this is very comfortable? Call Rick and ask him where I should meet him. Then, go to the bedroom and grab the suitcase near the door. I'll try to reach Jim."

Sebastian only received a stare. _"GO!"_

Brian jolted out of his shock and grabbed his phone to dial the number while packing the suitcase. Sebastian watched as he disappeared to the back of the flat. When he was gone, Sebastian looked down at his stomach and put his hand on the underside of it.

"I guess I'll be meeting you soon," he said softly to his stomach. "We should probably call your father and let him know the news." He grabbed his phone when a contraction hit. He squeezed his phone and the arm of the chair tightly and tried to breathe through it. When it passed, he sighed in relief. "Though if you're going to put me in pain, I'd rather you stay in there for a while longer."

Sebastian called Jim's phone and waited until it went to voicemail until he tried again. He left a message the second time with the instructions to call him immediately. He was just about to send off a text message when Brian came out with the suitcase and supplies. Sebastian grabbed the jacket off of the back of his chair. Brian helped Sebastian out of the chair and quickly caught him before he fainted. He carefully watched him as they made their way to the car, wary of him fainting again.

"I can't reach Jim. Can you try calling him at the hospital for me. No details. Just to call."

Brian nodded his head in agreement. He quickly sped through the city; the scenery not really registering in the mind since they were going so fast. He started to become motion sick and the pain that his body was experiencing was casing his head to spin.

"Pull over." He closed his eyes and shifted a little, trying to get comfortable.

Brian turned to Sebastian, noticing he looked a little pale. "What?" he asked, frowning.

"Pull over the fucking car! I'm going to be sick."

Brian pulled over the side of an overpass and Sebastian quickly jumped out. Brian patiently sat in the car and waited for Sebastian to finish with his...business. When Sebastian returned, he looked a little flushed, but a little better than before. Brian continued to speed off towards the nearest urgent care.

###### 

Jim shifted in his chair. The rope burn hurt his wrist and the small welts from the taser gun's wires itched.

"Well, well. You certainly seem like a busy man."

"I tend to be. Most non-boring people are." Jim sighed and looked bored. "And are we really going to do this cliché thing? It's not like I don't know who you are. Hiding in the shadows isn't going to intimidate me."

A figure appeared out of the darkened corner of the room and stood in the light.

"That's better. Now, I know you're not running the show. About your boss..."

"We will not speak of anyone except you and me."

"Well that's a drag." Jim pouted. "I have nothing to say and I can already tell your boring."

"Well, I'm sorry you think I'm boring. But the faster you tell us what we want to know and give us what we want, the faster you can go." The figure crossed his arms.

Jim snorted. "You think I'd really fall for that. Only idiots like yourself fall for such trickery."

"Really? I'd thought you'd want to cooperate with us this time." He pulled out Jim's phone out of his expensive suit pocket. "Your phone has not stopped ringing for the past 12 hours. Most of them form someone named...Sebby? Does someone have a boyfriend?" he asked in sarcastic happiness.

Jim stiffened visibly. "Do you really think I'd fall in love? So boring." Sebastian had been calling for half a day? Something must have happened. Was he just worried or did something go wrong with the child? His due day wasn't due for a few weeks. He couldn't...

The dark figure smiled as Jim started to breath more heavily. Just the reaction he was looking for.

"'Jim'," he read off from the texts in fake passion. "'Need you to call immediately'. 'Where are you?' 'Of extreme importance.' 'I swear if your just sitting at your fucking desk with a client ignoring me...' Wow! What do you think is going on? You want to hear the voicemail?"

He set the phone down on the table in front of him and pressed the button for voicemail.

'Jim, it's me.' Sebastian panted for a few seconds. 'I need you to call me as soon as you get this message.' He grunted and there was some commotion in the background as others were trying to talk to him. 'We're a couple of weeks ahead of schedule and I really need you to help me through this... Please call back soon.'

The voicemail ended and Jim felt his heart sink. Their son was about to be born and these assholes had him locked up under lock and key. No fucking way that was happening. His team was probably at a lost without him and his second-in-command away. He'd need to find his own way out- and fast.

"Now, do you want to help us or are you going to do this the hard way?"

###### 

"Someone...please get Jim here!" Sebastian cried. His contractions had gotten worst as time progressed and he was all alone.

"Sebastian, how are your contractions?" the doctor asked calmly as he placed a hand gently on Sebastian's shoulder.

"Please... Where is Jim? Has anyone reached him?" Sebastian asked as he panted and sweated. He gripped the railing of the bed tightly and let out a yell as another contraction passed.

"Sebastian, I need you to calm down. I know you're in pain and scared because you have no one around you, but stress isn't good; especially during labor. Let everyone else take care of other things and you take care of yourself. Alright?"

Sebastian panted at him and slowly nodded. He sucked a large breath through his teeth as a stronger contraction came and went.

"Please, Doc. Can I at least have something for the pain? Please?"

The doctor checked Sebastian's chart. "Mr. Moriarty has told me about your past history with some substances he thought you could have possibly been influenced by. Because of that, he has told me to give you a strict dose of medication."

"Well, fuck him. He's not the one here bringing life into this world!"

"Let me check how dilated you are and we'll see if it's wise to give you the epidural now. Don't want it wearing out during delivery."

The doctor lifted up the sheet and looked in between Sebastian's legs. He came back up a second later and didn't know if he was supposed to smile or grimace.

"I'm going to get the anesthesiologist to bring that epidural, alright?"

He started to get up to walk away, but Sebastian yelled out to him, causing him to stop.

"How far am I?" Sebastian panted. Another contraction passed.

The doctor sighed and looked Sebastian in the eyes.

"You're nine and a half centimeters. Now, don't panic," he said quickly, seeing Sebastian's eyes grow wide. "I know that you want to wait for Jim, but this baby is coming fast."

"I can wait..." he groaned as a stronger contraction hit. "I- I can."

"Sebastian!" the doctor said in an authoritative tone. "We still have time to wait, but as of right now, this child is deciding when it's going to come out! Not you! Now..." He got up and out of the way so the anesthesiologist could do his job.

Sebastian moved to the side of the bed and leaned forward so the long needle could be put in-between his vertebra.

He really wished Jim was here.


	21. Your Son is Being Born

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> non graphic torture and non graphic childbirth

###### 

"Ah!" Sebastian yelled as extreme pressure was exerted upon his lower torso. Even with the epidural, he still felt a lot of pain.

"Sebastian, I'd hate to tell you this, but you're fully dilated. This baby is going to come out any minute now. We're going to roll you into delivery, alright."

"Where's Jim?" he whined. "He needs to be here."

"I know you would feel comfort if your alpha was here, but life doesn't always work out like it should." The doctor stepped out the way and allowed the nurses to roll him into the delivery room.

"Relax, breathe, and I'll try calling Jim once more," he called after Sebastian.

###### 

"Another ring? What is that? Like, 20 hours?" The figure straightened out his bloody ring before delivering another blow to Jim's cheek. "What is so important? Bet you know, don't you." He punched him in his stomach and cracked one of Jim's ribs. "All I want is an answer. Tell me what you're planning and who your major connections are. You could have been on your marry way by now.

Jim winced as blows continually reigned down at him. He hated how he seemed helpless and his phone continually mocked him with its ringing. He scowled at it before turning it on the guy in charge of getting information from him.

"Of course I probably know what it's about. What kind of boss would I be if I didn't even know my own business. To reach the top, you have to have experienced some form of torture or else your business won't last very long. This is just boring me to tears."

The man's cool demeanor slipped and a perfectly placed right hook connected with Jim's jaw, dislocating it.

"I am done with your shit, Jim. Tell me, or you'll really be in pain."

###### 

"Sebastian, I need you to push for me."

Sebastian panted and shut his eyes momentarily; the sweat caused his eyes to sting. He was tired, and he meant tired. He had been in labor for over 30 hours. He was hot and sweaty and in constant pain. Jim wasn't in attendance, and now that the time for their child to be born was here, Sebastian did not have the energy to try to push. He felt drained, really, and just wanted to sleep. Maybe if he slept, he'd feel like pushing his child into the world later. He shook his head no.

"Come on, Sebastian. It will be over in a few good pushes. Sebastian, you have to do this. You've had nine months to prepare for this. Now, you've got to do this."

Sebastian looked at the doctor, who was now dressed in a blue apron and a mask. A nurse in the same outfit sponged his sweat away and grab his hand. Sebastian sighs and props himself up a little. He takes a few deep breaths before he's told to push again.

Sebastian grits his teeth and starts to push.

###### 

"Aww... It seems you're no longer needed."

Jim, who was hunched over himself from the pain of bruises and broken bones, looked over at his phone. It hadn't rung in over an hour. His eyes widened and he looked back at his attacker. Someone was definitely getting fired when he returned. As soon as he killed this son of a bitch.

He tried to take deep breath, but found that it hurt way too much. He was a few breaths from passing out.

"I cannot...answer any questions...in the state I'm in now," he panted and winced from having to speak. "I'll faint if... I don't get a little rest, at least." He pouted at the man who stood over him, hoping he'd let him rest.

The man sighed and smiled, thinking that he'd won. He snaps his finger at the door, signaling to the guards standing next to it. Two muscled men stood near him and cut the ropes that bound his hands. They roughly man-handle him into a stray-jacket and practically drag him down a hall to a room where they lock him in from the outside.

Even though Jim wanted to jump right into the action of escaping, he knew he was being closely monitored. Plus, he really did feel wiped out. A short power nap would really help him to think through the pain.

Jim ignored the pain and shut his eyes. He hoped he'd be able to dream about Sebastian and their child.

###### 

Sebastian fell back against the mattress just as he heard the first tiny screams of life. He weakly lifted his head to look at the doctor cutting the umbilical cord and setting a tiny human being on his chest.

He was so pink and small with fine blond hair, but it was definitely Jim's texture. He had Sebastian's nose and complexion though Jim's facial expressions and eyes. He seemed like an equal mix of both parents.

"Sebastian," the doctor said calmly. "We need to do a quick check to make sure that he has no health problems. We'll be very careful not to contaminate him with any of our smells."

Sebastian felt a gut omega instinct to protect his child from anyone trying to take him away, but Sebastian's paternal instinct also told him it would be fine and it was needed. He reluctantly handed over his child, who immediately started to cry again.

Sebastian shut his eyes, savoring the sound. His child's tiny cries meant the world to him; meant he was able to breathe. He opened his eyes again when the doctor set the child back on his chest.

Sebastian quickly nuzzled his child, marking him with his scent. He's half way done marking his child with his scent when a thought comes to him. He calls to one of the nurses to hand him Jim's jacket. He marked his and Jim's scent over the child, making sure to claim it as their own.

The child looked up at Sebastian with large, blue/black eyes that bore into Sebastian's.

"Hello, are you as tired as I am?" he asked as he looks down at his son.

The newborn gawked at him, lips slightly parted, before yawning.

Sebastian smiled contently as the sound of his heartbeat quietly lulled the baby to sleep. He yawned and rubbed his child's back, amazed at how small and fragile he seemed. He was quickly pulled under the heavy weight of sleep, still exhausted from the birth. He hoped he would be able to dream that Jim was here with him and their new son.


	22. Coming Home

###### 

Sebastian was wheeled to the front of the urgent care holding his new son, Maximus. He thought it made perfect sense since it was so...them. The Latin and Greek word of winner and strength. It was definitely a name that Jim would like. Plus, his formal name could be shortened like his and Jim's. It seemed so...perfect to him. No one would change his mind.

Brian pulled up to the curb and got out to open the door for Sebastian. Sebastian carefully got up from the wheelchair, making sure to not shake the sleeping child too much. He quickly buckled Maximus into the carrier seat before climbing in besides him.

Sebastian looked out the window as the city quickly passed by. He wondered where Jim was. Was he hurt? Did he lose his phone, or did he purposely not respond? Sebastian hardly thought that Jim wouldn't find the birth of his next of kin important. He didn't know what was up, but he had a gut feeling he wouldn't like the answer.

He hadn't noticed he had arrived home until his door was being pulled open once again. He sighed and lifted Max out of his carrier before making his way into the flat.

He shushed his son when he woke up and started to cry. He softly rubbed his back and started to show him around his new living space, including his new room. Sebastian settled him into his crib and quickly checked his phone. Still no messages from Jim. He frowned and really started to worry. Jim hadn't gotten in contact with him the whole time he was in the hospital. Something had to have happened to him. He was debating on whether to go over to headquarters or not when there was a loud commotion from the kitchen, startling the new born and causing him to cry again.

"Sorry, Sebastian!" Brian called from the kitchen." A few pots and pans slipped! Don't worry, no need to come in here!"

Sebastian peeks around the corner and views Brian pocketing a note or before quickly turning toward him and smiling.

"It's fine, Sebastian. I told you I had it. I'll clean it up," Brian said with a strained smile. Sebastian was about to ask him what was in the note when Max's cry continued to invade Sebastian's ear. He made a mental note to check it out after returning to his son's room.

###### 

Sebastian rocked Max as he fed him for bed. He noticed the child wasn't really...demanding as others. To be fair, he wasn't old enough to tell for sure, but he didn't mind being alone and just stared off into space. He was calm and took in his new surroundings in quietly. He didn't mind being held, at least not by Sebastian. He was more on the shy side, but, again, to be fair, he was new to the world. The only person he knew was Sebastian.

He set Max on his shoulder and gently patted his back to burp him the way the nurses at the hospital had shown him.

He couldn't help but feel that something was off with Jim. Jim... Sebastian had a feeling he was in trouble. He needed to go down to headquarters, but he debated bringing a newborn to the outside world. There was harmful things out there. What if some unknown epidemic was out there and he exposed his child to it? His child could potentially be sick or even worse...

Sebastian stopped that train of thought immediately. He wouldn't be able to stomach it. This being that he had waited nine months for. The person he fed and planned for carefully for the last nine months. It was a miracle alone that he was born without any problems. He just...couldn't imagine it. All of the new parent 'What ifs' were making his head spin in an endless cycle of fear.

He really needed to find Jim, though. What if he was in danger. Sebastian's job was to watch over Jim's life. Even though he was on 'paternal leave' (he refused to call it anything else and he was going to make sure he got his job back), his job was still to watch over his lover. Now that he wasn't in the extreme pain of labor, the feeling of dread and anxiety was constant. He really needed Jim here to ground him to reality. He promised he'd be safe, but, Sebastian now thought back, Jim's face didn't conjure confidence he always had when he was going out to play games. In fact, he seemed to kind of dread leaving Sebastian constantly.

Sebastian sighed. He heard a tiny burp and Max cried, not used to the uncomfortable feeling that had just pasted though him. Sebastian slowly rocked him and put a pacifier in his mouth.

The child happily sucked away at the pacifier and stared at Sebastian with drooping eyes. His small newborn's eyes bored into his maternal father's. He felt like those eyes could look into his soul and know that Sebastian was worried about Jim. They reminded him if Jim's eyes.

As they softly closed shut, Sebastian sighed quietly. He placed his son in his crib and made up his mind. He needed to find any information on Jim's whereabouts as soon as possible. He refused to raise his son without trying to first find his father.


	23. His World Collapses

Sebastian marched down the street to Jim's building. It didn't stand out to the normal eye and there was nothing special to it. It just looked like a normal business building. None of the regular imibiciles would know that it was the place where most of the deadliest people were held.

He stood outside, giving himself one last chance to change his mind, but decided against it. He was Sebastian fucking Moran. He wasn't afraid of anything, especially the ominous feeling surrounding him and creating doubts in his mind.

He gave himself a short mental pep talk before lifting his head up high and walking into the building.

When he arrived inside, he strolled right to the elevator, ignoring any looks or glanced that might have passed his way. When the doors shut, he let's out the breath he had been holding in. He couldn't help but notice a tiny bit of chaos from the workers downstairs. When he'd pass by someone, the conversation immediately stopped, only to be picked up again once he was out of hearing range. He couldn't help the tiny flair of paranoia in his gut, but he knew they just had to be talking about him or Jim. He wished he had his son to comfort him.

Weird, Sebastian thought. The person he depended on to keep him grounded would also need him to be grounded and to survive...or some other logic. Max had been born less than a week ago and he was already part of the center of his world. He stood as a symbol of love and hope and Sebastian definitely needed that right now. He hoped his child would feel the same way about him in the years to come.

The elevator doors dinged open and he stepped out the door and walked up to the receptionist. Her eyes widened at his presence before giving him a sincere smile.

"Congratulations! I heard the knew from Rick. Is the child okay? What dies he look like?"

Sebastian smiled back at her. Her happiness and sincerity were contagious. "He's fine. He's at home with a pal of mine."

"When was he born?"

"Less than a week ago."

The secretary's smile faltered slightly. "Oh, that's great. Shouldn't you be at home resting?" Sebastian noticed that her smile was a bit strained.

"I've come looking for Jim. Do you know where he is? He told me over a week ago that he had a big assignment do, but he hasn't returned."

Her smile seemed pasted on now, and Sebastian's fell of his face. "I'm sure he'll return as soon as he can."

"He was already supposed to be back," he said suspiciously. He just knew she was hiding something from him. "Don't act like you don't know where he is. I know you do. "

She sighed and looked at Sebastian sadly.

"I don't actually know where he is. No one does. He was taken and sent to a location where the members of his team cannot track down. Where ever he is, the person who has taken him have worked out a location he knew Jim's team would have a hard time finding. They've been working around the clock to find him, by since his meeting with Holmes-"

"Who the fuck allowed him to meet with _Holmes_ without notifying me?"

"He is the boss, Sebastian!" she quickly defended. "He said that you were fine with this arrangement and told him to be safe."

"I didn't know it was a meeting with fucking Holmes! And he obviously he didn't fucking listen to me or he wouldn't be gone at God knows where. Fuck! Who's on the head of the team?"

"Sebastian, you've go to calm down. We're doing as much as could."

"Not fucking enough if he isn't back yet."

"Look, Sebastian. Let us take care of this. Go home to your new son and don't stress out about this... We'll find him.

"Don't fucking tell me what to do. If anything, you should understand that my son should have both fathers in his life. Wheres the team, maybe I can restore some fucking order and help-"

"The boss has given me strict instruction no to let you do any thing of the sort. He says he will be fine.

Sebastian growled at the secretary. He turned around and stomped back towards the elevator.

"Sebastian! Where are you going?!"

"To your fucking jobs for you and get some answers! I need to say a visit to a certain army doctor and a fucking consulting detective."


	24. So Sorry

###### 

Sebastian slammed the door shut, causing a scream to run out immediately. Sebastian winced and regretted that his anger had gotten the best of him. How he could he forget that Max was now with him? He frowned and started to make his way to his son's room. He opened his door and saw Brian picking him up Max to bounce him. Brian held Max's head to his shoulder and softly shushed him and turned to Sebastian, frowning slightly.

"What's wrong? You'd never purposely scare your child."

Sebastian took Max and supported his head as he held him close to his chest. He rubbed his back and waited till Max had calmed down before turning his attention to Brian.

"Where is it?"

"Where's what, Sebastian?"

Sebastian sighed harshly. He hated when they would play stupid. Even when he had to torture a suspect or two, he couldn't help but want to punch the living daylights out of those certain ones. Except he couldn't with Brian. Though he knew that Brian was doing it to not stress out Jim, he felt totally betrayed by his buddy.

"Do you really want to play stupid with me, Brian?"

Brian frowned, but took the crumpled up piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Sebastian. Sebastian shifted Max to enable him to hold him in one arm and took the paper from Brian.

'Run into delay. We do not know the whereabouts of Jim Moriarty. While we work to find him, watch over Sebastian and don't tell him.'

Sebastian glared at his friend, anger burning in his eyes.

"Get out! I can't look at you right now."

Brian frowned, but knew that it would be useless to explain while Sebastian was seething. Everyone had been lying to him about his lover. While he had been through labor and all his happiness at being a new father, Moriarty was out there somewhere probably bleeding and broken. How could they explain to him it was for his own good that they didn't tell him?

"Did I stutter? Go away!"

Sebastian bounced Max as he started to cry again. As Sebastian focused his attention back to his son, Brian made his way to the door and left him.

Sebastian sat in the blue rocking chair in the corner of the room and rocked his child as he fed him.

He decided he would visit the Baker Street Duo tonight. It was best to get the information as soon as possible so he would track Jim faster. He knew that going to see them would most definitely set off some alarms, but if he was as confident as he was, he would be able to get to Jim before they do any major moving.

The only problem: he just kicked out the only person he cared to leave his child with. Even though Sebastian knew that if he asked, Brian would definitely say yes to sitting. Sebastian's anger and pride just wouldn't allow such a thought to settle.

He knew that his only option would be to take a risk in exposing his child to his enemies, but was he willing to take it? Jim was definitely important, but so is his child. He could stand not having one without the other.

He figures that it he would have to be careful. Very, very careful.


	25. I'm Glad I Didn't Shoot You

###### 

Jim woke up staring at the hot 70 watts lights that burned his eyes. His straightjacket itched his arms and stopped his from being able to rub them. Slowly reintroducing itself, the feeling of his bruised and broken bones erupted pain throughout his body. He bit off a groan, hoping that no one on the other side would be alerted that he was awake. He figured it was pretty late, not that he could tell. He relied on his internal clock and the small streams of lighting of the windows to give him some indication of the time.

Though he felt that time was pretty important, he knew that getting out was his first priority. He scanned the room, looking for any possible escapes. He looked a little to the left of the lights and saw a ventilation system. He sighed, not only at the stupidity of these 'high government officials' but also the meaning that he would have to go through extreme pain to get out.

For his family. For his son.

He felt something swell up inside of him as he muttered the words in his head. A new sense of...pride or determination. Even though he wanted to, he couldn't dwell on it now.

Jim had gotten out of plenty of straightjackets before, so to get out of this one would be child's play; it just took him a little longer due to his ribs. As soon as he was out, he tested the stretchiness of the jacket before slinging it over his shoulder.

He looked around his bare room to see if there was anything that would give him a boost. He spotted a clear plastic tub in the corner of the room. He carefully got up and grabbed the box and put it out under the vent. The box seemed a little stable, but he doubted it could hold his weight for long. He'd have to pull himself up most of the way, but if he did that quickly and efficiently, it would be easier from there.

Jim cringed when he made to step on the box; his ribs screaming in protest. He pressed up on the vent's cover until the top popped up and carefully pushed it to the side. He mentally prepared himself for the accompanying pain and hoisted himself up. He struggled and bit his lip, causing it to bleed, as he used his weak arms to get him into the air duct.

When his broken body was finally inside, Jim finally released the breath he had been desperately holding in. He allowed himself a second of composure and tried to quietly crawl to a way out. He looked through the first opening he came to and saw what must be their captive watch room. The idiot that was supposed to be watching him must have been in stage one of sleep. He was trying to keep his eyes open to view the monitor, but was mostly failing. His head was continually drooping and the fact he must think that Jim was still in this confinement obviously showed that he was hallucinating.

Jim continued to crawl. He winced as the cold air coming through the vents caused him to shiver and move his already bruised bones. He passed a few more openings and found them all unworthy of his time and consideration. He came to an edge of the vent and looked down at the drop. He saw industrial sized fan blades spinning lazily below. He was about to turn back when he heard a tiny sound of...chirping? Chirping! It was the sound of crickets chirping. Thank god for the sound. He was close to being outside.

He carefully turned around and tied the straightjacket to the last open vent. He crawled back to the edge and secured one of the sleeves end to his waist. This decent should be pretty simple until he reached the fan. The steel blades were sharp and could easily cut through his flesh if he weren't careful. He had to find a way to jam them until he reached the ground.

Jim slowly slid his body off of the edge until he was dangling over the side. He gasped as all his weight sat on his bones and quickly tried to stifle it. He waited- listening for any sound of someone alerting the whole building of his escape, but heard none. Idiots. Every last one of them.

He slid his feet onto the side of the tunnel, getting a grip on the wall with his shoes. When he finally got himself figured out, he started to make his way down; trying to keep a steady pace.

When he reached the fan blades, he stopped and looked down at all his components. He found a small opening that exposed the mechanisms of a working motor and dropped his shoe inside. The fans groaned and shuttered to a halt. Once he was sure that it would stay, he continued with his decent.

He was about 3 meters from the ground when he heard a loud moan from the fan above. He could hear distant echoes of voices from the tunnel above as the staff probably wondered what the noise came from. Jim looked up and saw his shoe being squeezed as the fan tried to spin again. Each second passing, the shoe got more crushed and fan blade got closer to his makeshift rope. He tries to quickens his pace, ignoring the pain of his tired body being overworked. The groaning go louder until there was a loud ping sound of his shoe being thrown out if the gears, sending the fan spinning quickly. He was almost 2 meters from the ground when the blade sliced through the fabric of the straightjacket, causing him to fall the extra meters onto his back.

He couldn't hold back the loud scream the left his lips as his cracked ribs became crushed under the weight of his fall. All of the air was knocked out of his lungs and he moaned. He had a hard time breathing and figured that one of his ribs might have punctured a lung.

Above him, Jim could hear the sound of many voices yelling and panicking. He knew that they probably figured he was gone and they could come find him any minute now.

Jim bit his lip as he brought his legs up to his chest and used all his strength to kick out the vent that lead to the outside. The opening gave way and he quickly slid out of the vent.

The pain was unbearable and he felt like he needed to throw up. He pushed through that feeling and wouldn't allow himself to faint from the pain overcoming him.

He stumbled around the building, trying to find his bearings, or just a way out would do. He climbed over a brick wall and dropped onto the ground on the other side.

He looked around and saw nothing but bare land. They must have taken him outside the country in case something like this happened. He stumbled out to a road he saw in the distance. His ribs greatly protested and he placed his hand over them gently to keep himself from falling over.

He reached the road and started to walk the opposite way of his confinement. He heard a jeep coming from behind him and ducked into a shrub bush, hidden by dusk of night. As they passed by, he saw the jeep filled with soldiers with large machine guns, surveying the area. They passed, not showing any signs of noticing him.

He waited until he couldn't see the tail lights of the car before deciding to come out of the shrub. They were small and far apart, so he debated with himself on whether to wait until the protection of night. He was about to walk the same way the jeep went, when he saw distant tail lights coming toward him. He scrambled to get back into the bush and stared at it, hoping it wasn't the soldiers coming back.

As the jeep neared, the load of passengers it carried seemed to be fuller and louder. He noticed the car was a different color and figured that this was a different group, but as they came closer, he noticed that they seemed familiar. Particularly one man. What was his name again? Bob? Bill? Damn! What the fuck was his name? Did his tired brain not understand his life was on the line? He was pretty sure he must have received a concussion in the fall.

He stood up quickly, ignoring the searing pain, and yelled to the passing car. "Brian!"

Brian turned towards the familiar voice and demanded the car be stopped immediately. He squinted at a limping and hunched over figure approaching as fast as he could. He sprinted over to Jim and looked him over quickly.

"Are you alright, sir?"

Jim tried to inhale, and almost fell over from the pain. He quickly shook his head.

Brian carefully supported Jim's back and placed his arms under his knees before picking him up. Jim winced, but was grateful he didn't have to move anymore. Brian carried him back to the jeep and gently set him on the seat before picking up his gun again.

Jim allowed a sigh to escape his lips and closed his eyes. He was about to allow himself to drift off, when a thought made him stiffen and open his eyes. He grabbed and death gripped Brian's arm.

"Sebastian!" he yelled as he quickly sat up, causing another yell to come from between his lips.

Brian pushed him gently back to the seat. "He's fine. Congratulations, Boss. Your new boy sure is a cutie," he said handing him his phone. He figured that Jim would want to see him. Probably would give him something to smile about.

Jim calmed down and let go if Brian's arm to grab the phone. He looked at the picture if his son as he slept on his crib, oblivious to the drama surrounding his life already.

"Brian, I'm glad I didn't shoot you the first chance when I found out you were helping Sebastian hide his pregnancy from me."

Brian gave a slight chuckle and thanked Jim. Jim contently sighed and allowed the traveling physician to inject him with enough morphine that will guarantee him a comfortable ride back to the private hospital. He had sweet drug-induced dreams of being back with Sebastian and his son very soon.


	26. I'm Feeling Empathetic Today

###### 

Sebastian bounced a sleeping Maximus in his arms. He gently rubbed his pink, slightly chubby cheeks before putting a pacifier in his mouth and setting him in his carrier. Sebastian filled a backpack with various baby items and draped a thick blanket over the carrier to keep Max warm while he would make his way over to Baker Street.

Sebastian sighed and grabbed his gun from the locked cabinet. He made sure he had all his parts in his case before slinging his pack over his shoulders. He grabbed his gun case in one hand and grabbed the carrier in the other.

He locked up the flat and grabbed a cab before letting out a nervous sigh. What if something happened to Jim? What of Sherlock or John couldn't give him any useful information or captured him? What would happen to Max? Sebastian suddenly became very nervous and rethought his plans.

He shifted the carrier in his lap and stuck his hand under the blanket to gently rub Max's foot, hoping it would give him some sort of comfort. He hadn't thought about what would happen to Max if something happened to him. Now that it was an extreme possibility, it felt like a great weight was set upon his shoulders. He knew that he needed to get this discussed and sorted immediately, but that required Jim too. If everything went without a hitch, they could sit down and discuss this whenever jim would be feeling up to it.

Sebastian frowned at the thought of Jim not knowing what their beautiful and precious son looked like. 'That's what you're here for' he told himself.

The sound of the driver clearing his throat brought Sebastian from his internal debate. Sebastian grabbed his stuff and his son before paying the driver and exiting the cab. He walked up to the stoop and gently set Max's carrier down before quickly assembling his gun and hiding it behind his back. He knocked and waited, taking deep breaths to calm his nerves.

There was a small rock of the carriage followed by a tiny cry from below and Sebastian's attention quickly diverted to it. He clicked the safety on and put his gun in the back of his belt loop as he stooped down to check on Max. The door opened and Sebastian quickly looked up to see a nice, old woman standing over him. He let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't Holmes or Watson. It would have been devastating being caught before his plan even started.

She looked down and saw the baby carriage. "Please come in. It's not healthy to have such a young one out in this type of weather; especially at night." She quickly ushered them inside and shut the door. The inside was toasty and comfortable. Sebastian thought about taking off his coat and enjoying the heat, but he didn't want to give Holmes any clues that he was here.

Sebastian heard another cry from his son and propped up the blanket to look at him. Sebastian smiled as he saw his son still sleeping though he had his tongue between his lips. His face was creased into what looked like worry and his eyebrows were drawn inward. His face quickly turned to fear and he gave a small, tearless cry.

His son was having his first nightmare. Sebastian chuckled as he rubbed Max's stomach and shushed him. Max's face slowly turned back to normal and he fell into a deeper sleep. Sebastian put the cover down and looked at his watch. He should have fed Max before coming over.

"What are you here for, deary?" The sweet old woman replied. Sebastian stood up and had to slightly look down to talk to her.

"I've come to see a...old friend of mine. John. I was also in the army."

Her face lit up and she smiled up at him. "That's nice. He hardly ever allows people over- with Sherlock around and all-, but they have gone out and I don't know when they'll be back."

Sebastian feigned surprise. "If that is the reason, then please do not let them know I am here. I'll sit and wait for them- surprise them." he smiled. They would be damned surprised to see him.

She seemed like she was wanted to object, but nodded. He picked up the carrier and started to ascend, but a thought stopped him dead in his tracks. He didn't know how this meeting was going to turn out. What if bullets started to fly? What if they used Max as leverage against him?

"Excuse me, mam-"

"Ms. Hudson, please," she interjected.

"Ms. Hudson. If what my...friend, John, has written about Sherlock in his blog is true, I don't feel very...comfortable taking my young son in such a hazardous place for him." He had viewed the old woman since she had opened the door. She had been staring nonstop at the baby carriage since he was allowed in and felt relatively at ease with her. He knew she would say yes if he asked her. "Would you mind watching him?"

He face lit up even more, though she seemed to feel guilty about it. "Sherlock hasn't done any experiments recently, but I understand your concerns. I won't mind watching this little cutie," she said, cooing at the sleeping child.

Sebastian bit his lip as he handed his child over. He felt the urge to quickly snatch him back and snarl at the woman, but he knew that he was just going to be downstairs; safe and sound.

He took the pack off his back and and handed it to her. "There's many supplies in there if he needs any: Diapers, pacifier, there's a bottle in there, but he might not be used to it, so you may have to try coaxing him into feeding from it if it you can."

She nodded and smiled at the new father's nervousness. Instead of stopping him and telling him that she's had enough experience in this subject, she allows him to explain before taking the sleeping child into her flat. It may help him feel more at ease if he felt in control.

Sebastian stands on the stairs, allowing the silence to surround him. He takes a few deep breaths and uses all his strength to let his legs carry him upstairs and leave his child behind.

###### 

As soon as Sebastian enters the flat, a potent, but faint, familiar smell hits him. He wouldn't have even recognized the smell if it hadn't been clinging to him for the last 3/4 of a year. He wonders if it's him and he gives himself a quick sniff and shakes his head as his theory is disproved. He takes a deep breath of the flat and smirks as his thought is confirmed.

This was good. Too good. It banishes all of the anxiety about Max being here and he sets searching the flat for any contraband with a smirk on his face. He finds two guns on the first floor and places them elsewhere around the room where neither one would immediately find them. He moves an armchair into a corner of the room, closest to the door, and positions the couch on the opposite side facing him. When everything is placed perfectly to give Sebastian an advantage, he sits in the corner, cleaning his gun, and waits.

###### 

Sherlock and John come stumbling inside the flat two hours later. Sebastian slinks back farther into the dark corner. He hears their voices travel through the walls as they walk up the stairs, discussing some kind of upcoming events they have planned. He hears the the knob turn and clicks the safety off his gun.

The door opens and the talking stops suddenly as Sebastian's scent hits them. It has a kind of stale pregnancy linger to it since there hadn't been enough time for it to leave since the birth. He doesn't worry about it since it makes for a good cover since neither have know that he had been pregnant. Sebastian knows they won't turn around and call anyone. They were such a curious pair. Sherlock whispers to John to slowly go for the gun in the kitchen as he goes for the one in the desk drawer.

Sherlock quietly make his way over to the drawer and opens it when he hears Sebastian's voice, causing him to be slightly startled.

"I don't think that you want to do that." Sebastian comes from the shadows and brandishes his gun at Holmes. He trains it for a kill shot to let him know that he's not in the mood for playing games. Sherlock raises his hands to the sides of his head.

"Doctor Watson. There's no gun in there. Would you like to join us?" Sebastian asked. He hears John stop and knows a small part of him thinks about running for help. He can no longer risk being careless. He has different priorities now. "NOW."

John walks calmly into the main room with his hands up also. As Sebastian trains the gun on him, he has to bite back the urge to move his hand to his midsection.

Sebastian smirks and commands them to sit on the couch as he brings his chair forward. He sits down and moves his gun to be trained on John who visibly stiffens. The fact that Sherlock seems oblivious to why John is so uncomfortable makes Sebastian's smirk widen. Could he really not tell, even with his and John's scents?

"Hello, John. How are you?"

John swallowed thickly. Sherlock looked at him before turning a menacing glare at Sebastian.

"What do you want, Mr. Moran?! You obviously didn't come here to terrorize us or shoot us. Can you just get to the point instead of doing this whole cliché act?"

Sebastian turned towards Sherlock, but kept the gun trained on the doctor.

"You don't know me, Holmes. Just what you've probably read in papers doesn't describe the person I really am. If I really wanted to, I could just shoot you," he quickly turned back to John, "or your companion, but I'm feeling kind of...understanding today. If you give me satisfactory answers, I'll decide not to shoot you."

John kept his eyes set firmly on Sebastian's gun and allowed Sherlock to do all of the talking. He didn't feel like he could form the words even if he had the chance.

"And what do you want to know?"

"What the fuck do you think I want to know? Where the fuck is Jim?"

"Hmm..Jim? Not boss or Mr. Moriarty? So this is for personal matters."

Sebastian gritted his teeth and gave off a warning shot next to John's head. It buried straight into the wall behind him and Sherlock shot up from his chair.

"Sit down, Mr. Holmes, you know of my sniper capabilities. You know that I purposely didn't shoot him. That was strike one. I don't want any of this deduction shit. I want to know where Jim is. It the only thing I want to know," he stated calmly.

He looked back at John who was slightly shaking. He gave him a sorry look and John gave him a slight nod. Sherlock's eyebrow rose, but he didn't comment as he slowly sat back into his seat next to John.

"Look, we don't know where he is. Maybe he didn't want to deal with you and your...emotions" he sneered.

Sebastian shot off another bullet into a vase on the table closest to where John sat. John's eyes grew wide and his shivers became more pronounced.

"THAT'S TWO STRIKES HOLMES!" he yelled just as John's shouted, "SHERLOCK!"

Everyone stilled and Sebastian winced as a newborn's cry carried up through the floorboards and into their ears. Sebastian gripped the arm of the chair to keep him from running down the stairs to answer his child's cries.

"It seems Ms. Hudson has some company," Sherlock said curiously.

Sebastian quickly re-routed the conversation back on topic. "Where do you believe he is?" he asked, feeling pinned down by John's curious stare.

"The last place we saw him was at the warehouse. From there, my brother's interfering minions could have taken him anywhere."

Sherlock closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He couldn't tell which he was more angry at; the stupidity of his over controlling brother or that insistent crying. "Mrs. Hudson! Shut that stupid crying up!"

Sherlock didn't notice Sebastian's nails digging deeply into the arms of the chair. He really wanted to put a bullet deep in Sherlock's skull, but that would be counterproductive.

Sebastian stiffened as he heard the sound of kitten heels clicking on the stairs. The crying got louder as Ms. Hudson came up the stairs. Sebastian slid his gun in-between the chair and his thigh and shot a warning look at the pair sitting across to him. His head snapped up to Ms. Hudson as she knocked on the door with Max crying in her arms.

"Oh, hello boys. How are you? Deary," Ms. Hudson said, turning to look at a shocked Sebastian. "I know that you were worried about the mess and air quality of the flat, but I'm sorry. This little man," she cooed at the crying baby as she bounced him. "he didn't take to the bottle like you said and he probably wants his father."

She walked over to Sebastian's chair and gently set the screaming and shaking baby in his arms. His little fist were balled up and he was red with tears staining his face from the crying he recently did. Ms. Hudson left and Sebastian's raised his son before gently set him on his chest. He rubbed his backed the same way he had gotten so used to in the last week and a half. He shushed him and gently rocked him back and forth as he started to quiet. He knew that he should have fed him earlier. He put the pacifier into his mouth and Max sucks on it happily.

Sebastian was brought out of his own world of him and his son by the feeling of two men staring at him. He looked down at the blackish orbs staring back up at him from his son and sighed.

He looked at the men from across from him and smirked. He brought his knees up to place his feet on the edge of the chair cushion (hiding his son from their view) and lounged back into the chair. "Could you really not tell? Even with my scent change and all? I would think that Sherlock Holmes would be able to tell if I was using a certain pheromone blocking wash or something. Genius my ass."

Sebastian's phone chimed as he received a text message. Max gave a little whine as Sebastian moved to retrieve it.

"I must say, though, if you can't even tell with me, just think of all the other stuff you're ignorant about." He looked down at the phone's screen, missing John's breathing become heavy and uneven.

'Sebastian, it's a drag being here alone as I recover, but don't go around getting yourself into trouble for my sake! We have a child to think about! I swear! I'll return as soon as I'm better because you don't need to take care of two people by yourself, so don't come visit me. Please return home safely.'  
-Jim

At first, Sebastian didn't knows how to take the message. Was he supposed to be happy? Because he felt sort of angry, and just a little bit sad; but he just couldn't help smiling down at his phone.

"Sorry to cut our 'conversation' a little short, boys, but I've got to feed the little one and put him to bed." Sebastian turned to John and decided to end fucking with him. "They're always so tired at this age."

Sherlock shook out of his shock and addressed Sebastian. "What about your information?"

"Don't need it. Have something more important on my mind at the moment," he said without taking his eyes off of John. "I hope you'll feel the same in...what? 7 or 8 months. The symptoms are-" he quickly covered his child's ears, "shit," he let go of them, "and the labor is horrible, but when they're finally outside of you, there's nothing you won't do to insure their happiness."

Sebastian stood up and set his child in his carrier before grabbing his stuff and putting his gun away. "Good-bye Mr. Holmes. I hope your alpha supports the decision to keep your child like mine did, John. Good-bye."

On that note, he left as the couple upstairs bickering voices carried through the floorboard.

"You're pregnant?! Did you not think that this was important for me to know?!"

"How was I supposed to know how you'd react?! You wanted to try the thing with the bloody table. You should have made sure you used a better condom!"

"How was that my fault?! Like I worry about consequences of receiving my partner's seed! How..."

Their voices faded as Sebastian closed the door to 221 Baker Street and walked towards an awaiting black car to take him home.


	27. Now That I Have You Back

###### 

Sebastian heard Max's cries float up from the baby monitor. He groaned and turned over to look at the clock on the night stand that blinked 02:16 in bright red letters.

It was nights like these he wishes that he had someone to trade off with. He desperately needed to catch up on some sleep and have have some quiet time. He loved his son very much, but, sometimes, Sebastian wishes he just be quiet for a while.

He sighed and began to kick the covers off of him when the monitor quieted. Sebastian listened for a moment, but closed his eyes again after no noise was forthcoming. He started to drift off to dreams of owing a new model of his old rifle when a low, whispering voice came from the monitor beside him.

Sebastian's eyes suddenly snapped open and the tiredness he'd been feeling quickly flew out the window as the feeling of fear and rage flowed throughout his body. How dare someone break into his house and go into his son's room. He'd make sure to make whoever it was pay in the most painful and gruesome way anyone would ever see.

Sebastian pulled out his knife from under his pillow and switched out the blade. He quietly went to his son's room and looked inside of the cracked door. A dark shadow quietly whispered to the small child in his arms as he bounced him back to sleep.

Sebastian quietly growled. Who the fuck did this person think he was? Softly lulling his son back to sleep with their whispers. Sebastian was Max's dad, not this fucker.

Sebastian waited until the shadow put the sleeping child back into his crib before quickly closing the distance between them and placing the knife to the person's throat.

"Before I decided to slice your throat and then cruelly dispose of your body, tell me why you think you can just walk into this room and lay a hand on my child?"

"Because I haven't been able to meet my son properly, yet," a familiar voice said quietly, still looking down at Max sleeping.

Realization dawned on Sebastian's features. He growls and quickly pulls the knife upward, closely shaving Jim's cheek as he takes it away.

"Fuck, Jim!" he yelled in a whispered tone. "I could have killed you!"

"Was that really necessary?" Jim asked, exasperated, as he rubbed his now uneven five o'clock shadow. He straightened up and winced as he brushed his suit over his [now healed and slightly bruised] ribs. It didn't escape Sebastian's notice and he quickly reached out to check Jim.

"No," Jim scolded lightly and waved his hands away. "I'm fine. A little bruised, but I've been in worst before."

"Then why haven't you contacted me in over 3 weeks, Jim?" Sebastian asked, angrily.

"Well, it's hard to do anything when you've been in and out of a drug induced sleep and recovery for the last three weeks."

Sebastian frowned and felt a little guilty for directing his anger at jim. He was tired and wasn't thinking straight. He took a good look at Jim- a good and proper look at him. He could see he also looked tire, but a little more rested than Sebastian. He was a little pale, but the fading bruises left a sickly yellow tint behind. He took shallow breaths, wincing if he took one too large; as if it pained him to breath. Oh, he'd make whoever laid a finger on his lover pay.

Sebastian looked at Jim, who was eyeing him curiously, before closing the distance between them once again and enveloping Jim into a hug. He felt Jim stiffen and wince under him, but didn't let go. Instead, he buried his face between the spot Jim's neck and shoulder met and breathed in his scent. After a while, Jim returned to affection, raising his arms to wrap around him. Sebastian closed his eyes and sighed contently. He felt his life slowly click back into place and wouldn't mind if they stayed like this for a while.

Too soon for Sebastian, but not unexpected, Jim pulled away and slightly looked up to Sebastian.

"So, what's his name?" Jim asked, turning back to his son.

"Maximus Moriarty-Moran."

Jim hummed, most likely dissecting each and every part of the name. After a moment, Jim smiled, seemingly pleased with the choice. He entwined his fingers with Sebastian's, gently tugging him towards their bedroom as Sebastian's eyes seemed to close without his command. He yawned, remembered how tired he had been before Jim entered and allowed Jim to tug him back to bed.

Sebastian slowly crawls across the bed to his side as Jim stripped down and put on his pajamas. Sebastian was close to falling asleep, when he felt the opposite side of the bed being weighted down as Jim climbed in beside him.

"I didn't mean to end up captured, Sebastian. I meant to be able to be there for Max's birth." It was the closes Jim was ever going to get to apologizing, but Sebastian didn't mind. He'd been with Jim long enough to know that an apology like this was always genuine compared to the actual word of "I'm sorry".

Sebastian smiled lazily. "It's fine," he mumbled. "I'm sorry you missed an important event in our lives. You missed me yelling and cursing and screaming as our child took over 30 hours to come out," he said sarcastically.

Jim laid his head on his pillow and turned his back to Sebastian's. "It's fine... I'll guess I'll just wait until next time." Jim closes his eyes, a smile placed on his face as he feels Sebastian stiffen next to him.

Sebastian opens his eyes and turns towards Jim's back. "Next time? You're joking, right, Jim? Jim? Are you seriously thinking about having another child?"

Sebastian felt Jim shiver underneath him as he let quiet laughs rack his body. Sebastian playfully nudged Jim in his arm. He wrapped his arms over his waist before laying down behind him and nuzzled the back of his neck.

Before Sebastian was fully engulfed by the weight of sleep, he placed a soft, lazy kiss on the back of Jim's neck, and said a soft "I love you" before finally falling asleep.

Jim's smile widened and felt that weird sensation in his stomach again. Jim was never one for thinking too far into the future, but he couldn't help but having a feeling Sebastian would always be there. He felt a sense of...pride? Contentment? He had aspired to everything everyone thought he was incapable of. He had a thriving business that allowed him to do what he wanted and use his mental abilities as he felt best to use them. He now had a friend, a lover, even a family. He was respected as much as he was feared.

Jim entwined their fingers once more. He looked over his shoulder to the face that had changed his life completely from the first time they met.

"I think...I love you too, Sebastian Moran," he said to the sleeping figure behind him; the silence his only witness of a rare revelation of Jim's heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sad to see this go :(. Seriously, thanks to everyone wo encouraged me from the beginning and helped me with my inspiration. just... thank you!
> 
> P.S. if i do do a sequel, it will still contain a lot of Seb and Jim. just parts of j/s thrown in.
> 
> UNTIL NEXT TIME


End file.
